Tories embrace right to roam

20 November 1998

Tories embrace right to roam

THE Conservative Party is to abandon its opposition to a legal “right to roam” over open countryside.

The move comes as the Government prepares to pass legislation which will overturn centuries of landowners rights.

The Conservatives U-turn on the issue comes after it described the proposals before the last election as a “charter for rural crime”.

But the partys policymakers are likely to have been swayed by opinion poll research which shows that 85% of the public supported the policy.

The Independent, which reports the story, also says the National Farmers Union preparing for right-to-roam legislation, which is expected within three years.

• Tories get behind farmers, FWi, 08 October, 1997
• 
  The Independent 20/11/98 page 4, page 3 (Review)
• The Herald 20/11/98 page