Rural British Voters Ignored By Liz Truss And Rishi Sunak Agricultural Affairs

Mark Tufnell, chairman of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents around 30,000 landowners and farm businesses, said Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had done very little to show how they would boost the rural economy and address pressing concerns such as planning, rural broadband and rural support. “I don’t think either candidate really understands what’s going on in the countryside and what the real issues are,” Tufnell said. “Both have said nice things about the farms. But there is no understanding of what is happening in the countryside. They haven’t said much about it.” He warned that the failure could cost the party in the next general election. “They assume that we [in the countryside] vote Conservative and that they don’t really need to worry about us. But it should,” he said. In the 2019 election, 46% of provincial voters voted Conservative and only 29% voted Labour. However, polling carried out by the CLA before Boris Johnson’s resignation found a significant shift of 7.5% from the Tories to Labour, putting the two main parties in some rural areas. The Lib Dems are also making inroads, with strong local elections and taking the formerly safe blue seat of Tiverton and Honiton in June’s by-elections. “[The Tories] they take provincial voters for granted,” Tufnell said. “They showed a lack of interest.” While Truss and Sunak tried to reassure farmers during their campaigns, Tufnell pointed out that the bulk of rural voters and businesses were not farmers. Agriculture accounts for only about 4% of the rural economy and 7% of rural jobs are related to agriculture. Around 85% of rural businesses are not related to agriculture or forestry, and while 12 million people of voting age live in rural areas of the UK, there are only around 100,000 farmers. For non-farming rural businesses, key issues include connectivity, as rural broadband and mobile phone access lags far behind that available in urban areas, and planning regulations, as many businesses defy certain planning rules . The CLA also said a lack of affordable rural housing is holding back development. Both Truss and Sunak have promised to maintain or strengthen planning laws. Sunak promised not to build on green belt land and Truss promised to abandon his house building targets. Each would limit the construction of solar farms and onshore wind farms. Tufnell is also concerned that the new Tory leader could bow to pressure from some on the right wing of the party and dismantle reforms to farm support payments, which are being phased in. Unlike the EU’s system of payment for the amount of land cultivated, under environmental land management (ELM) contracts farmers will be paid with “public money for the provision of public goods”. In return for the subsidies they will be asked to cultivate the lands, plant trees, improve water management, protect wildlife and take other measures that help clean the air and water and protect nature . The National Farmers Union opposed the reforms, arguing that at a time of rising food prices, the focus should shift to supporting farmers to grow more food. Tufnell, whose 28,000 members own around half the land in England and Wales, urged Sunak and Truss to stick with existing policy and give farmers stability. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Tufnell, who owns and manages a mainly arable farm in the Cotswolds and is a member of the Conservative party, said: “It’s a false argument that you have to stop ELMs to grow more food, you can do both. Without clean air and water and cultivated soils you can’t produce food anyway. And if you are taking money from the public purse, you have to show a benefit to the public. “ELMs are world-renowned, they are way ahead. It’s the way the rest of the world will eventually go, but at a slower pace.” Both candidates represented rural constituencies, Tufnell noted, Truss in the east of England and Sunak in Yorkshire, but said their policy ideas were focused on towns and cities. “The main focus remains on metropolitan and urban areas. There is a lack of focus on the countryside.” Even the drought, which has scorched pastures and left crops to die in fields to the despair of farmers in the Midlands, and particularly in southern and eastern England, had not sparked much of a response, he added. “I’m not sure how much attention either of them have gotten for the drought — they just ran across the country.” Tufnell called on the winner of the leadership election to install a “proper rural champion” in Downing Street who would support policies that reflect the needs of rural Britain. The CLA has estimated that investing in the countryside to align key infrastructure in rural areas – such as housing, transport, communications and technology – with towns and cities would improve UK economic productivity by £43bn. £. “There’s a lack of infrastructure that’s holding the countryside back,” Tufnell said. “There is huge potential, but political focus is needed.”

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title: “Rural British Voters Ignored By Liz Truss And Rishi Sunak Agricultural Affairs Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-09” author: “Gladys Leyba”

title: “Rural British Voters Ignored By Liz Truss And Rishi Sunak Agricultural Affairs Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-06” author: “Morris Williams”

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