27 April, 2001

John Sheard takes a pungent look at the possible effects on the coming general election of the crisis in the countryside.

I WOULD dearly love to launch this new weekly column with good news about happy and secure rural communities, flourishing farms, rampant wildlife and ravishing landscapes, all things dear to my heart.

But to do so at this particular juncture in the Yorkshire Dales would not only be a dereliction of my duty as a journalist who has been writing about country matters on and off for 40 years but would also be downright stupid.

The roses around the cottage door, chocolate box style, have never been a reality of country life, just a mirage in the mind of millions of townies. Roses have always had thorns and the Dales and rural Britain in general this weekend are facing some of the thorniest problems in living memory.

So I asked bored readers to stifle that yawn just for a couple of minutes to consider a matter which is of momentous importance to us despite the politicians who will run it: the looming general election.

Now this is not a party political piece - my personal view is that all politicians of all parties have progressively failed the countryside since the 1930s - and the reason for that is simple: just under 20% of British voters live in rural areas so there are few votes to be gained by wooing them.

This coming election, however, is different. For the first time since we were nearly starved into surrender in World War II because farming had been allowed to go to the wall, the well-being of our farmers and rural communities will be one of the hottest issues on the political agenda.

Politicians have suddenly remembered that people need to eat. They have also caught onto the fact that tourism is one of the country's top five industries in employment terms and one of our biggest earners of foreign currency, a sort of home-based export giant.

But there is even more to this than cold economic facts. This week has proved that there is a huge respect and yearning amongst townsfolk in the national conscience for the British countryside.

The fact that the Prime Minister himself stepped in to save the life of a week old calf called Phoenix after yet another foot and mouth debacle was a demonstration that London-based politicians have cottoned on to the fact that we Brits love our countryside and the animals that live there.

One of the most moving announcements of the week was that this summer's Promenade concerts - an entirely metropolitan affair - will be devoted to rural themes to celebrate Britain's centuries-old love affair with the countryside.

A month earlier, thousands of Londoners had gone to church to pray for rural communities. Big business has donated many thousands of pounds to support farmers and rural business owners as they fight their way through the crisis.

On Tuesday, the Yorkshire branch of the Country Landowners' Association issued a statement, which said, quite bluntly, that the countryside would be one of the major "battlegrounds" of the coming election.

CLA Yorkshire chairman Richard Howard-Vyse commented: "The foot and mouth crisis has illustrated vividly the interdependence of farming, tourism and the environment… "All political parties need to realise that the countryside will be a crucial battlefield for the next general election and we will have high expectations of the incoming Government. If election promises are translated into action, the administration will have our active help and support."

" ... the countryside will be a crucial battlefield for the next general election ... " Richard Howard-Vyse CLA Yorkshire chariman

That, of course, is a big "if." Many promises have been made in the past and ignored once polling day was past. This time, we countryfolk have a chance to insist that promises are kept - and the support of the urban majority to back us up.

So go to as many local political rallies as you can, irrespective of the party you support, and give the candidates hell. From disaster rises a unique opportunity to press the rural case home to the hilt. Don't let it slip by.