“The Local Government Association is urging ministers to extend devolution to non-urban areas as well as cities” to deliver jobs, homes and growth.
They have never understood rural issues, and they still don’t.
Also: New poll shows Scots want second referendum within the decade; Welsh farmers call for badger cull; Scottish Labour trick Nats on Twitter.
Rather than always wait for Government funding communities must find their own solutions
When the neo-liberal approach assesses landscape in terms of money, plants or animals, conservatism should emphasise the human.
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Owen Paterson is missing his daughter's 21st birthday today and will, instead, be meeting regulators, retailers and food suppliers for a summit meeting to reflect on and investigate the horsemeat scandal. The Secretary of State for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs called the meeting after telling the BBC […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter Policy Exchange's housing plan might have been written to offend vested interests… In our Comment Section today, Alex Morton of Policy Exchange urges the creation of a Secretary of State of Housing in the coming reshuffle, so that this new Cabinet appointment can drive through radical planning reform. He […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter A new blow has been struck against the HS2 scheme. George Osborne's Treasury has been reluctant to approve new spending on the project, the Sunday Telegraph reports. The newspaper says that there is a “major risk” that the Bill to introduce the scheme will not come before Parliament by the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. There's a section of James Forsyth's Mail on Sunday column that's worth noting: "George Osborne regards forcing through changes to the planning rules as one of his most significant Budget measures. They will now be published on Tuesday and, in the words of one Government source, will be "unashamedly […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Today's Sunday Telegraph carries the following Boris quote: "I am not viscerally hostile. I am a passionate supporter of HS2 in principle, but it has to be right for London. And there are important aspects of HS2 which are not right. This is not the end of campaigning against HS2. […]
By Joseph Willits Follow Joseph on Twitter In an article for the Daily Telegraph today, Caroline Spelman, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has written of the need to be "realistic about the challenges" and problems faced by rural communities and businesses. Such challenges, she said "have been exacerbated by over a decade […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. In an interview with The Times (£) Greg Clark MP attempts to take the heat out of the controversy surrounding the Government's attempt to introduce a presumption in favour of sustainable development. Dr Clark is proposing to sit down with critics of his plans and consider all reasonable amendments […]
In his first major outing as shadow secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, Nick Herbert will today today go to the National Farmers’ Union conference and launch the Tories’ "Honest Food" campaign. He asserts that current rules allowing meat imported from abroad – and merely processed in the UK – to […]
Nick Herbert was appointed shadow secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs last week and today he has followed Eric Pickles’s lead by taking the party’s message to the people of Devon and Cornwall. He’s not there in the flesh, but he has written about Labour’s failures on rural affairs for the […]
Under this Government, rural Britain is getting a fair deal once more.