Sunak takes a sleeper train to Cornwall for the election campaign

Rishi Sunak campaigned in Cornwall after arriving on an overnight train from London.

At a train depot in Penzance, he spoke of plans to close university courses offering what he described as “fraudulent degrees” in England and said he was “committed” to increasing funding for Cornwall.

He said that instead of university courses, the government would fund up to 100,000 extra apprenticeships a year.

Labor described the plans as laughable and the Liberal Democrats said the “shockingly low” pay for many apprentices was a sign of a broken system.

Sunak said university “isn’t the only option” and some degrees “let young people down”.

“So it’s actually better to give those young people the opportunity for a high-quality apprenticeship,” he said.

Despite being asked to give a specific example of an underperforming degree, Mr. Sunak failed to do so.

Mr Sunak later met with apprentices at the Wildanet Technical Training Academy in Liskeard.

Mr Sunak said he was “absolutely committed” to leveling up in Cornwall.

It follows a report which said Tory plans to launch national services for 18-year-olds could starve Cornwall of money for community safety and high street regeneration.

Areas including Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, Cornwall and the Tees Valley are among the areas with the most to lose, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The plan to close the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) by 2028 and use £1.5 billion to support military and volunteering opportunities for 18-year-olds could see richer areas in the south of England to receive “a substantial increase in net funding,” the researchers found.

According to the IFS, UKSPF is worth £145 per person in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, rising to £246 in Blaenau Gwent in South Wales and £273 in Merthyr Tydfil.

Mr Sunak was asked by reporters in Cornwall whether regions receiving UKSPF cash would lose out due to repurposing funding for his scheme.

He replied: “I’m absolutely determined to level up in Cornwall and you can see our record.”

He highlighted investment in Cornwall’s high streets, hospitals and transport infrastructure.

He added: “These are all examples of the investment that will level up here in Cornwall and will always continue under a Conservative government led by me.”

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for North Cornwall, said Sunak was “clearly picking constituencies that he fears the Tories will lose”.

He said the Tories had “created the biggest ever crisis in the NHS” and “gave over £500 million of taxpayers’ money to holiday home owners in Cornwall”.

He also said coastal sewage discharges “have doubled in recent years as water company bosses and shareholders have been rewarded”.

And he said the government had “reversed environmental policy” and “presided over the catastrophic depletion of nature”.

Luke Pollard, Labor MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said rail links to the south west of England were “simply not good enough”.

All “failing train operating companies” would be brought back into public ownership if Labor won, he said, including First Great Western and Cross Country Trains for the region.

He added: “Millions of pounds are leaving the system that should be spent on our trains, improving punctuality and service.

“That will go to shareholders; we think they should go to public transport’.

The Green Party said plans to bring back national recruitment were “removed from reality”.

Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: “What young people are telling us they need is access to the housing market, higher education that doesn’t leave them in debt and meaningful jobs that pay well. Not military conscription.

“It’s striking how out of touch this Tory government is with the priorities of today’s young people.”

Reform Britain, formerly known as the Brexit Party, said it would take 630 of a possible 650 seats across the country.