MP to lead rural revival for Labour
LABOUR’S shadow Environment Secretary Luke Pollard is to lead a review into Labour’s rural policy, the party leader Sir Keir Starmer has announced.
Following his address to the National Farmers Union conference on Tuesday – the first by a Labour leader for 13 years – Sir Keir promised a Labour manifesto that would “offer hope and opportunities to rural communities”.
He has put Mr Pollard in charge of drawing up a set of rural policies for the party, which currently holds just 17 of the UK’s 199 rural seats. In 1997, when Tony Blair won his landslide victory, there were more than 100 rural Labour MPs.
Mr Pollard, the MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said: “I’m delighted Keir has launched this review into Labour’s rural policy. For too long the Conservatives have taken rural communities for granted, but Labour has often failed to turn up. The people of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset deserve better than this. Labour will be listening to their concerns and acting on them. I’m excited to get to work!”
Speaking to the NFU Conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir admitted the party had to do more for rural Britain.
“I know there’s a much wider story about Labour needs to do if we’re to build a new relationship with British farmers and rural communities,” he said.
“I know that, for too long, all you’ve heard from Labour is what we don’t want the countryside to do, not what we can achieve together.
“I’m determined to change that: that’s why I’ve asked Luke Pollard, Labour’s Shadow Defra Secretary, to lead a review of Labour’s rural policy in the coming months.”
He also called on the Government to take measures to back British farming, including:
Encourage people to buy more British food – including looking at whether more of the £2.4 billion public spending on catering could be spent with British farmers and producers.
Address the serious and growing problems with farm payments – with three quarters of farmers worried that the Government’s new schemes will not keep them afloat.
Invest in agricultural skills – with a wage subsidy to create new apprenticeships in farming and other industries this year.
The Labour leader also said that Tory austerity had weakened rural Britain.