Brexit-voting Cornwall is asking for £700m to make up for lost EU funding but no one has any sympathy

Cornwall Council has renewed its call for the government to provide £700m in funding to fill the gap left by EU funding post-Brexit.

The figure would cover the loss the region will suffer over the next ten years due to the impact of leaving the European Union.

Cornwall was granted Objective One status by the EU in 1999, meaning it was eligible for funding as one of the poorest regions in Europe.

As a result, it received £350m between 2000 and 2006, and an additional £415m from 2007 to 2013.

The money was used to fund projects intended to increase tourism to the area, including the Eden Project, a tourist destination which boosted the economy by £1.7bn, according to Corwall Live. It also covered the cost of a new airport terminal and other facilities, a local university, superfast broadband and a business start-up fund, among other things.

Council chief executive Kate Kennally said that she was calling on Boris Johnson to fulfil his promise that Corwall wouldn't be negatively impacted by Brexit.

She said:

The amount is the same as what Cornwall Council has been calling for in terms of the equivalent of what Cornwall would have received from the EU and as the level of funds to catch up with other parts of the country as part of the levelling up agenda.

We are calling for it as a single pot to prevent us having to continually bid for separate pots. We want to have the funding in a single pot that will be managed by organisations here in Cornwall.

But not everyone was impressed.

Many pointed out that Cornwall actually voted for Brexit, with 56.5 per cent of voters backing Leave in the 2016 referendum.

There was a fair bit of smug schadenfreude from Remainers.

However, others made the point that the reality of the situation isn't funny, and those seeing it as some sort of comeuppance were missing the point.

After all, 43.5 per cent of Cornwall's voters backed Remain – and they will be hit just as hard.

And not everyone knew what they were voting for.

Just another unhelpful culture war we're all having to deal with because of Brexit, it seems.