Not Party of the countryside?
Not Party of the countryside?
SHADOW farm minister, David Curry, has challenged Labours assumption that it is the party of the countryside, claiming the government has little interest in the welfare and economy of rural areas.
Mr Curry said Labours decision to cancel this years national hill review, and its refusal to compensate farmers for four green £ revaluations, demonstrated its lack of commitment to agriculture.
Speaking during a countryside and rural policy debate at the Tory conference in Blackpool, he attacked the governments decision to introduce price cuts and the weight ceiling to the over-30 month scheme, and warned that suckler producers were losing £350 an animal this autumn.
Agriculture alone could not carry the rural economy, he argued, claiming shops needed effective rate relief and the countryside needed a vigorous rented housing sector.
With farms getting larger, the plight of the smaller family farmer had to be recognised. *