Philip Bowern Column: Who cares about the countryside?

Who cares about the countryside? Philip Bowern for the Western Morning News 

Rural affairs, including looking after the environment, mitigating climate change and producing the food we all rely on, is central to the health of the nation. In this opinion piece, first published in the Western Morning News, writer Philip Bowern is concerned that countryside issues do not get the priority treatment from Government that they deserve.

 Steve Barclay made his first public address to farmers and landowners last week following his move from the Department of Health to become Environment Secretary.  It was not, according to many who attended, a sparkling performance.  He was addressing the CLA Business Conference, and while Mr Barclay made great play of the various grants and support packages available to farmers and underlined the Conservative commitment to agriculture he - or his speech writers and advisors - failed to fully understand his audience.

CLA members are not all farmers.  And even those members who farm have a range of other interests worthy of a Government minister’s attention.  They include concerns about potentially business-ruining delays in the planning process to a lack of understanding about all the various impediments to running a successful rural enterprise.

A Secretary of State with ambitions to make his or her mark in the job or a real commitment to the countryside might be inspired to address these problems; to listen to the concerns expressed so powerfully by CLA president Victoria Vyvyan at last week’s conference, and bring about some real changes.

Steve Barclay is clearly very able.  Perhaps, even now, he is reading back Ms Vyvyan’s speech and the comments of many others made at the conference, and devising policies that will bring about some of the changes a thriving countryside so desperately needs.

But reading the comments on his move from Health to Environment - which have not been denied - the general consensus is he was demoted in last month’s reshuffle.  And given that the current Government has at best a year left to run, there is a sense of marking time at Defra.

Even if the Tories hold onto power (a very long shot indeed) it is very unlikely the make-up of the current cabinet will remain unchanged.  Steve Barclay, perhaps a little miffed at being moved and with half an eye on what happens after the next election, doesn’t look - so far at least - like a man ready to shake up the department.

There is also more than a lingering concern, across much of rural Britain, that the countryside is seen as, at best, a secondary concern of governments of all political colours.  

Why should this be?  Why is the Department of Health seen as outranking the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when it comes to ministerial top jobs?  There is no logic to the premise that taking change of the NHS should count for more than managing the policies that determine how our landscape is cared for, our food produced, our wildlife and nature protected and our rural businesses backed.

Farming and food production is arguably the most important job in Britain.  Add in land management more widely, to take in flood prevention, the care of precious habitats and the provision of open space for people to exercise and recharge their batteries, and you have yet more evidence of what a crucial role our farmers and land managers play.

As concerns grow about global warming and the various ways we can mitigate its effects, land managers who plant trees, preserve our peatlands and develop green energy schemes move even further up the league table of those we need most to ensure our survival.

There have been Environment Secretaries who have recognised these points and worked hard to raise the profile of rural issues, inside government and out.  But to some it must have seemed like an uphill battle.

Also at last week’s CLA business conference was the man who may well be the next Secretary of State at Defra, Labour’s Steve Reed.  Finding a shadow Environment Secretary with a deep knowledge and understanding of the countryside is a challenge for Labour at the moment.  Its shortage of MPs in rural seats is well-documented and something it needs to overcome if it is to take power.

But, as things stand, Sir Keir Starmer can be forgiven for deciding that Mr Reed, the MP for not-so-leafy Croydon North, is the best man for the job.  And Mr Reed, while he seemed to better understand his audience, covering-off a wide range of rural issues, left many in the audience feeling they had been offered the earth - with little idea of how it might be paid for.

Philip Bowern - Western Morning News Column

The countryside is, by-and-large, apolitical.  What it wants is an understanding of all it brings to Britain, socially, economically and environmentally, and for its work to be recognised by the government of the day and supported accordingly.

Perhaps it’s the wide and growing disconnect in the UK between the largely urban population and the work of the countryside that is behind a distinct lack of enthusiasm shown by successive governments for rural issues. If voters don’t care much, why should politicians?

But it’s both damaging and a missed opportunity to hold that mindset, whether you’re Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer, Steve Barclay or Steve Reed.  The countryside has a vital role to play in the life of the nation.  It needs to be given the chance to do just that.