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OUR
countryside will be in danger of being turned into a rural theme park
within the next few years if the current government remains in office much
longer.
Labour
fails to understand that the rural economy is the seed corn for a
successful national economy. Farmers in the countryside do not just
produce food but they employ people directly on their farms and offer a
whole range of job opportunities to those who live in the countryside.
Labour's
opposition to fox hunting has nothing to do with stopping cruelty to
animals, as alternative methods are equally, if not more, cruel. Urban
incomprehension of rural life in this respect threatens not only the jobs
and livelihood of these families but will impact adversely on all services
directly and indirectly related such as village pubs and restaurants.
Continued Labour support for the anti-hunting lobby will deprive farmers
from the possibility of promoting gam e shooting as a way of
diversification to boost their declining incomes. Coverts and larger areas
of woodland will also disappear with a decline in hunting and hedgerows
and many species of wildlife will be lost.
Labour's
policy of ignoring our farmers has led to the UK's increasing reliance on
cheap imported food and intensive farming. The small and medium sized
farms continue to be impoverished and there is a real danger that their
land will be concreted over for low cost housing. Labour intends to build
4 million homes in the next 15 years and many of these are planned for our
green and pleasant Suffolk countryside. New communities in low cost
housing with new out-of-town shopping complexes will devastate village
shops and destroy the rural economy. How can we have a thriving rural
economy as well as offer opportunity for new housing developments where
appropriate?
Financial
support for the rural economy must be allocated to combat rural poverty,
promote and support local businesses, develop skills through training,
subsidise the production and use of biofuels, build and expand rural
infrastructure and establish local 'farmers' markets' to allow farmers and
food producers to sell locally grown produce at farm gate prices.
Increased
vigilance of health and safety of imported food is also essential to
protect our farmers from unfair foreign competition. Our supermarkets
offer cheaper imported food that does not match the high standards
observed by our own farmers. We should ban the import of sub-standard food
and encourage our supermarkets to buy more British food. We should insist
that Local Authorities use British milk, beef, lamb, fruit and vegetables
for canteens in our schools, hospitals and other public institutions.
Subsidised or free UK grown fruit and milk in our schools would take up
more than 50% of UK farmers' production.
Labour's
image that rural England is populated by the affluent, busy hunting and
shooting rather than working and receiving state subsidies at the expense
of deprived urban and inner city populations, is promoted politically to
mislead and divide our nation. We must reject such nonsense from Labour.
We must regenerate our rural economy to attract and connect with urban
areas to make our people united and our country a joy to live in. |
