Everyone agrees that the problems besetting rural
England are complex and deep-rooted.
But it is the Government's
seeming inability and lack of desire to change matters that continues to
infuriate country people.
Rural Secretary Margaret Beckett was last
week accused of treating the countryside with contempt after her keynote
speech at the Labour Party conference failed to address any of the issues
plaguing rural areas.
It was Mrs Beckett who claimed at the
European Parliament's inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis that she had
never heard of a bungled cull in the Devon parish of Knowstone.
It
was also Mrs Beckett who dismissed Devon's foot and mouth inquiry as
meaningless and "purely local."
Now the Western Morning News is
challenging Mrs Beckett's ineptitude. All this week we will be
highlighting the problems faced by rural communities and examining the
ways in which they can be solved, in other words doing Mrs Beckett's job
for her.
We have come up with a list of five main issues in the
countryside that need to be targeted, and we asked experts what the way
forward holds.
If Mrs Beckett's Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to make any progress, it must tackle the
problems associated with farming, rural amenities, housing, funding and
transport.
Professor Michael Winter, director of the Centre for
Rural Research at Exeter University, has called on the Government to make
"big decisions" to safeguard the future of rural life.
"The
Government has dedicated a lot of time to rural issues, but it certainly
doesn't seem to be getting across to rural areas," he added. "Foot and
mouth, and the criticisms that the Government was ham-handed with its
treatment of the crisis, has been one of the reasons for the lack of trust
from the rural community."
Prof Winter said that the Government
must lead by example to win back the rural community's trust. Lending
support to the WMN's Buy Local campaign, Prof Winter said that one avenue
could be through greater promotion of home-grown produce.
"We
really need to get some kind of commitment to them putting money into
regional food. It's quite possible that people might start to feel that
bit more trusting of the Government if it led from the front.
"They
should make their own agencies - the Department of Health, the National
Health Service, the Ministry of Defence - eat British. They should not be
buying the cheapest beef on the market, but go that extra yard to protect
the rural economy. It would send such a strong message out to rural areas,
and it would be an amazing show of confidence."
Richard Haddock,
National Farmers' Union livestock representative for the South West, said
he thought Margaret Beckett was "not doing her job" with respect to
farmers.
"She does not give me any confidence at all," he said.
"She hasn't come and sat down with any of us - she talks down to
us."
Mr Haddock said that Mrs Beckett's Agriculture Secretary
predecessor, Nick Brown, had a much better understanding of
farming.
"At least Brown would come down and talk directly to us.
We want someone who understands us, and assists us."
He added:
"Farmers want to feel wanted and loved. No one wants to listen to us - we
are the unwanted minority. We all know there has got to be change, but at
the end of the day all we want is a fair day's pay for a fair day's
work."
Ian Johnson, spokesman for the South West National Farmers'
Union, said: "The Government is right in saying it is attempting to
address these issues economically, but nobody has understood the psyche of
farmers. They have not looked at the human factor. Although it is true to
say technically a great deal of money is put towards farming, that is not
the fault of farmers, it has its roots in previous governments' attempts
to maintain an unlimited supply of cheap food.
"With increasing
globalisation, the fact that food can be imported cheaply and there is no
longer any kind of immediate threat to that supply chain, politicians have
quite cynically washed their hands of the people who have fed the nation
effectively until now. Mrs Beckett has the same attitude that Margaret
Thatcher had towards the miners, constantly attacking them and keeping
them under her foot.
"Mrs Beckett is just like the school teacher
who has been charged with looking after the naughty schoolchildren who
have been put in detention. She is more concerned with telling farmers
what they should be doing, rather than looking at how she can improve
matters. She could certainly do with a lesson in how to be more
sympathetic to farmers."
Colin Breed, South East Cornwall MP and
Lib-Dem rural affairs spokesman, said that despite the Government's claims
of improvements for country people, the results are yet to be seen. Many
of those in the rural community feel neglected and think that no matter
what they do the Government's not going to help them.
"They don't
see the promised public transport schemes the Government is always talking
about, they still see the local post offices closing, they still see the
village halls closing and they still have difficulty getting onto the
housing ladder."
Listen to rural England - Page
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