SCOTT MANN has stood by his comments about what he perceives as a ‘reluctance’ of Cornwall Council to back projects outside of the West of Cornwall. 

It comes after the MP responded to comments from Louis Gardner, the Cornwall Council portfolio holder for finance said that the ‘project had grown out of control’, to which the MP responded that “If Cllr Gardner is feeling frightened by the Camelford bypass project perhaps it would be a good time to reassess all the schemes currently on the books at County Hall - based on his new risk profile.”, adding that the majority of the funds for the project are set to be provided by the government. 

However, the comments between the two have drawn criticism from the man set to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for North Cornwall in the next general election, who accused the MP of ‘bickering’ with colleagues at Cornwall Council as he needs someone to ‘blame for failure’. 

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat Party Political Candidate (PPC) for North Cornwall, criticised the MP, saying: “Scott Mann is bickering with Conservative colleagues running Cornwall Council because he knows an election is around the corner and he needs someone to blame for another failure. After eight years of his broken promises he knows his party won’t deliver the bypass for the people of Camelford and once again the decision has been kicked into the next Parliament. 

“After failing to speak up for us in Parliament since 2022 he has refused to stand up to his Tory bosses in Westminster to make this project a priority and now Camelford will suffer. It’s no surprise that costs have ballooned under their mismanagement - HS2 underlines how the Tories cannot be trusted to manage and deliver public infrastructure projects. 

“The sooner we can have an election and get this opportunistic MP and his government out - the better it will be for everyone. North Cornwall deserves better than this playground politics.”

In response, a spokesperson for the office of Scott Mann said: “The Camelford Bypass project has been an aspiration for decades and Scott Mann is the only North Cornwall MP who has come this close to delivering it. Thanks to Scott’s hard work in Westminster, the Department for Transport has taken on 99 per cent of projected costs. This is in addition to delivering record levels of investment into North Cornwall, and reducing National Insurance contributions for working people.Scott stands by his comments about the level of projected risk cost build into the Council’s submission, but he is pleased that the Conservative Cabinet at County Hall unanimously approved the scheme. There is an incredible level of potential we can unlock in Camelford and the surrounding area and Scott remains fully committed to delivering a bypass for the town”