Boris has Exmoor mud on his shoes

WHETHER you love him or whether you hate him, we’ve got him – and Boris Johnson has achieved one of his biggest ambitions.

And for those of us who just want to get on with our lives free of the distractions of the most bitter political wrangling this country has ever experienced, then he is certainly the best man for the job – if his declaration to get us out of Europe by Hallowe’en is delivered on.

But what makes me so optimistic about his forthcoming tenure in Number 10 is this: Boris might be another model turned out by the elitist public school/Oxbridge system but he has at least a little mud on his shoes.

Exmoor mud, in fact, from his (somewhat chaotic) upbringing on the family farm between Winsford and Exford. And that provides a clear distinction between him and as many of his predecessors as I can recall.

Because Boris knows that the countryside is a living, breathing, working environment – not somewhere you go for the weekend to get away from life in the capital for awhile.

He knows what farmers have to go through in order to put food on our tables and make a living – and on Exmoor they have to go through a lot more than most, given the altitude, the rainfall and the generally thin, poor soils.

He is all too familiar with the problems facing the wider rural community particularly when it comes to the loss of essential services: the village store in Exford which he and his family would have used in his childhood has recently closed, leaving the locals with a five-mile drive to buy groceries, while the post office has been reduced to a paltry few hours a week service.

What this all adds up to is someone at the head of Government who, while naturally devoting most of his energies to national and international issues, will always have at the back of his mind the fact that if the countryside stops working, the nation will go hungry.

I hope and trust that this will, mean, equally, that those MPs representing rural constituencies will start to take far more interest in what is happening on their doorsteps rather than only appearing to do so once an election is on the horizon.

Above all, I am looking to Boris to ensure a smooth transition out of the EU and into the realms of Brussels-free existence for farmers.

Also a recognition that, thanks to the subsidy dependency which has become the norm under the CAP, British agriculture will continue to need taxpayers’ support until it can be weaned off it to stand on its own two feet.

Farmers are ready to dedicate themselves to compete with the rest of the world and naturally want to see as much home-produced food as possible on the nation’s dinner tables.

We could face a rough ride for a while if we run into obstacles such as tariffs or competitors who are underwritten by grants, special payments and other measures which are subsidies in all but name.

But now, at least, we can look for support to a Prime Minister who understands how the countryside works and knows the importance of a prosperous farming sector – and is ideally placed to make sure that it thrives.

Boris knows what farmers have to go through in order to put food on our tables and make a living