Time for rural economy White Paper in Queen’s Speech?

Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger pens an open letter to Environment Secretary George Eustice, Camborne & Redruth MP, on rural economic needs

It will not, I am sure, have escaped your attention that the all-party parliamentary group for rural business has produced a pretty thoroughgoing report this week.

You may also have gathered that it is a lengthy one and highlights the way the countryside generally lags behind urban areas in terms of productivity.

Moreover, that actually offering targeted support to jack up the rural economy would generate another £43 billion of activity per annum. Which I think you will agree is not to be sneezed at.

Now, I have been very happy to add my signature to demands for a rural economy White Paper to be included in the Queen’s Speech.

Short notice, I know. But if you have only time to scan the report’s summary I think you will agree with me that many of the deficiencies therein listed could be addressed and remedied in pretty short order by some decisive, targeted action.

Thing is, George, that in political terms ‘the countryside’ has been viewed as an amorphous hinterland, one that is as fragmented as its landscapes are diverse.

But despite that diversity there are many common problems and challenges which the report has rendered down very significantly.

My own patch – despite my constant flagging up of the issue – still suffers from appallingly bad broadband and mobile coverage (as do many other remoter parts of the realm) largely as a result of provision being left either to commercial interests and a consistently failing consortium calling itself Connecting Devon and Somerset – or jamtomorrow.com as I prefer to call it.

It’s already been established that broadband should be considered a standard utility in the same bracket as electricity, water and gas. But the meagre returns set against high installation costs have led to a considerable degree of foot-dragging by the commercial providers which is why we need a firm governmental grip and some moderate investment to perform the necessary levellingup.

The point is, George, that the pandemic has merely accelerated an exodus from overcrowded towns and cities and we have dozens of new enterprises freshly relocated to the shires, creating employment and opportunities and generally revitalising the economy, particularly in parts of the country such as yours where it is decaying thanks to all the second homes. The very least we can do is to ensure that they are adequately serviced.

There is much more in the report which I hope you will have time to consider, ranging from overhauling tax regimes to reducing the influence of supermarkets on farmgate prices and – most intriguingly – providing better training for planning officers so they understand the needs of the rural economy.

Having experienced an overflowing in-tray listing some of the crasser decisions by planning officials in my neck of the woods – and particularly inside the boundaries of the national park – I can only applaud such a suggestion. Pointless objections by extravagantly obtuse planning gauleiters have been the curse of innumerable, well-intentioned and entirely worthwhile projects on Exmoor and it’s time all that nonsense was stopped and the park allowed to move forward with the rest of the country.