THE deputy leader of Cornwall Council has said he hopes that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Christmas turkey comes out of the oven “burnt and destroyed” tomorrow (Christmas Day).

Cllr David Harris wished the same fate on the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves as he vented his anger at a £5.2 million shortfall in funding from Westminster for the people of Cornwall.

Cllr Harris, who is also the portfolio holder for resources, has constantly petitioned the Government – both Conservative and now Labour – for fairer funding as Cornwall Council wobbles on a financial precipice. Earlier this month the local authority notified over 100 of its staff that they are likely to lose their jobs as part of a bid to save £48.6 million.

Last week the Government announced a £69 billion package of funding for councils across England, but Cllr Harris says Cornwall has actually been left £5.2m short of what the council hoped to receive. He has accused the Labour government of favouring big towns and cities over rural areas.

An irritated Cllr Harris said: “Where we are now means it’s very clear there will be a need to revisit our draft budget. We made an assumption that what we expected to get from the Government could be wrong and sadly it is.

“Rather than listen to constant pleas for fairer funding for rural councils, they’ve give the money to their friends in the big towns and cities. It’s sad when something is so predictively negative. It was not easy to balance the books for the budget three weeks ago and now there’s this. I’ve spoken to officers and even with the £5.2m shortfall, I’ve been told we can just about get there, but this is really getting daft now.”

The Conservative councillor for Gloweth, Malabar and Shortlanesend added: “I’m so annoyed with a bunch of people who obviously don’t know where Cornwall is. Clearly they have no respect for rural areas. We’ve tried to get fairer funding for years – I’ve been shouting at both the Conservative and Labour governments. There’s no care or consideration.

“I would like to wish your readers a very merry Christmas and a pleasant new year, but I hope that Mr Starmer’s and Mrs Reeves’ turkeys are burnt and destroyed, and that they think about poor people in Cornwall this Christmas Day.”

The Government says the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement will provide £69 billion for councils across the country, a real-terms increase of 3.5 per cent from 2024-25, which includes a new emergency £600 million Recovery Grant, “offering better value for money through the repurposing of grants to help support councils most in need and maximise every penny of public spending to ensure it delivers for working people”.

Cllr Harris says Cornwall hasn’t received anything from the Recovery Grant. Despite the deputy leader’s dismay about the lack of support for Cornwall, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said: “Places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a five per cent increase in their Core Spending Power to ensure rural communities have the support they need.”

Setting Cornwall Council’s budget for 2025/26 led to council officers and councillors “tearing their hair out and sleepless nights”, a meeting of its Tory Cabinet was told at a meeting last month.

Cabinet members met to agree the draft budget proposals which include a 4.99 per cent maximum council tax increase which includes a two per cent adult social care precept (for the third year running) and the application of a 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes. The net revenue budget for 2025/26 is £828.866m, which is an increase from 2024/25 of £58m.

In a similar story as heard at previous meetings over the last couple of years, councillors highlighted that the council is on a financial cliff edge without more support from central government, but stressed that unlike many other local authorities across the country it is not facing bankruptcy. Cllr Harris says that despite its fiscal difficulties, that is still the case.