Tony’s 10 years – quotes
“Tony Blair will be remembered for his blatant disregard of the well-being and points of view of his rural citizens. His arrogant and ignorant disdain of all rural issues plunged the countryside into crisis.”
Lyndon Edwards chairman, Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers
“Tenant farmers will remember Mr Blair for a raft of broken promises. He said he recognised the needs of rural people and yet his actions and policies show that that was far from the truth.”
George Dunn chief executive, Tenant Farmers Association
“Most symbolic of the Blairite attitude towards the countryside was the introduction of legislation to ban hunting. This was in spite of the largest protests and marches of the sort never before seen – and the findings of the government’s own inquiry.”
Gareth Vaughan president, Farmers Union of Wales
“Never before has the countryside and those who live there been so neglected. Tony Blair has proved over the past 10 years that he doesn’t understand the countryside.”
Jim Paice shadow agriculture minister
“He took ‘personal control’ of foot-and-mouth but one doubted the motive was for the benefit of the animals or for farmers. The question remains: The contiguous cull was based on dubious science, so was it driven by political expediency?”
Dr Freda Scott-Park past president, British Veterinary Association
“He will be remembered for the appalling mishandling of the foot-and-mouth crisis, and the cock-up over single payments to farmers in England.”
Peter Kendall president, NFU
“There was no tradition of Labour seats in truly rural constituencies, so they didn’t understand what made rural people tick.
David Fursdon president, Country Land and Business Association
“Tenant farmers will remember Mr Blair for a raft of broken promises. He said he recognised the special needs of people who live and work in rural areas and yet his actions and policies show that that was far from the truth.”
George Dunn, chief executive, Tenant Farmers Association
“He has been the invisible man of the countryside for the last decade. There is an overwhelming sense that Mr Blair always saw the countryside as “someone else’s problem” and never fully engaged with it.”
Simon Hart, Countryside Alliance
“The period has seen farming under severe farming pressure. Those who work in rural Britain are perhaps left feeling that the importance of the countryside, as part of the total economy and its health, has not been the priority.”
John Moverley, chief executive, Royal Agricultural Society of England
“The government has not always recognised the link between farming, food production, care for the countryside and our rural communities. These strands cannot be viewed in isolation when it comes to policy making as we have sometimes seen.”
Julian Sayers, chairman, Oxford Farming Conference Council
The government has not felt comfortable in the countryside since he came to power. It was like going on to a dance floor and being unable to dance. There was no tradition of Labour seats in truly rural constituencies so they didn’t understand what made rural people tick.”
David Fursdon, president, Country Land and Business Association
“There has not been enough recognition of the value of the wider countryside, as an environmental and cultural asset, and as a major contributor to everyone’s quality of life, whether living in town or country.”
Neil Sinden, policy director, Campaign to Protect Rural England
To ‘What has Tony Blair done for farming?’