Countryside ‘is not racist’ says Braverman

By Lauren Shirreff and Craig Simpson

THE British countryside “is not racist”, Suella Braverman has insisted.

The former home secretary spoke out following claims from a group of wildlife charities that the British countryside is a “racist colonial” space. The group claimed that rural areas are governed by “white British cultural values”, in evidence provided to Parliament and seen by

Mrs Braverman rebuffed their claims, revealed by this newspaper, on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing: “No, the countryside is not racist. Since my childhood, I’ve spent countless holidays camping, trekking, fruit picking, orienteering and enjoying the British countryside. My ethnicity never posed a problem.”

Mrs Braverman, 43, is of Indian origin. Her mother and father, part of the Indian diaspora, immigrated to the UK from Mauritius and Kenya respectively in the 1960s.

She added: “The great thing about the UK is that people are welcome, if they have a positive attitude and respect others. Let’s keep it that way by focusing on character, not skin colour.”

Mrs Braverman, the MP for Fareham in Hampshire, also shared her favourite areas of the British countryside.

“Other than the beautiful Hampshire countryside of the South Downs and New Forest, the Brecon Beacons is my absolute favourite,” she wrote. “But reaching the summit of Glenshee was amazing too.”

The report, by an umbrella group of charities called Wildlife and Countryside Link, was submitted to MPs on the APPG for Race and Community, in response to a call for evidence on the links between “systemic racism” and climate change.

One section of the report argues that “cultural barriers” restrict people from ethnic minorities accessing the countryside. It states: “Cultural barriers reflect that in the UK, it is White British cultural values that have been embedded into the design and management of green spaces, and into society’s expectations of how people should be engaging with them.”

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, founder of “The Black Farmer” food range, has also slammed the charity’s comments. He said that people researching alleged racism “tend to be from white liberal backgrounds” and are “always pushing the narrative that blacks are victims”.

He added: “That is my greatest frustration: if you’re black, somehow you’ve got to be a victim of something. It’s going to perpetuate the idea that parts of Britain are a no-go area for people from a certain background. People might assume it’s racist, but they are listening to the narrative – I could tell them the reality.”

Mr Emmanuel-Jones, who has worked land in Devon for 26 years, said: “You can’t go to rural Britain and expect it to be the same as being in an urban environment, but because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s racist. If you want to advance diversity in this country you can’t keep presenting the countryside as racist.”

Former home secretary claims her ethnicity has never posed a problem for her while in rural areas