LIBERAL Democrats have welcomed reports that plans for a cross-border ‘Devonwall’ Parliamentary constituency have been shelved.

Prime Minister Theresa May is widely reported to have cancelled a constituency boundary review based on a previous government proposal to cut the number of MPs from 650 to 600, under which there were proposals for a constituency linking parts of North Cornwall with North Devon.

Lord Paul Tyler, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for constitutional and political reform and former MP for North Cornwall, said: ‘There is no sense in forcing through changes which destroy the historic integrity of communities and require the redrawing of boundaries every five years.

‘After years of campaigning against these damaging proposals I am delighted that we are in sight of success.  

‘This should mean that the reduction of MPs in Cornwall won’t go through, and the ill-fated joint constituency straddling the Tamar will never happen – Devonwall is doomed.

‘I wish that this threat had been removed years ago;  only one of the present Conservative MPs in Cornwall was prepared to stand up to the party whips, or we might have achieved success much earlier.

‘There is a strong case for more consistency between constituency sizes. However, these plans will be damaging and it would be a mad time to cut the number of MPs, They need to be working harder than ever to keep a check on the government through the Brexit process.’