PRESS RELEASE : Lib Dems – Giving rural communities a stronger voice in government [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 1 December 2022.

Rural communities and businesses are being consistently neglected and let down by this Conservative Government.

The cost-of-living crisis is hitting rural areas hard, but the Conservatives have rejected Liberal Democrat calls for a cap on the cost of heating oil and an expansion of the rural fuel duty relief scheme.

They are undermining British farmers with the chaos and uncertainty around the roll-out of the new environmental land management schemes, and have sold them out by signing trade deals with Australia and New Zealand that undermine the UK’s high food standards.

They are doing nothing to solve the big staff shortages in agriculture, hospitality and tourism – key sectors of our rural economy.

They have let ambulance delays and GP waiting times soar out of control, and are allowing thousands of criminals to get away with stealing farm equipment, heating oil and lead from roofs.

Meanwhile, from Cornwall to Cumbria, more and more second homes sit empty, while people cannot afford to buy homes from their families. And rural areas lag behind urban ones when it comes to superfast broadband and 4G.

That neglect has to end. It’s long past time the Government recognised the importance of rural communities and started tackling the challenges they face.

So today, Ed Davey has called on Rishi Sunak to appoint a new, cross-departmental Minister for Rural Communities. In his keynote speech at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA)’s annual conference today, Ed said:

“We need to start with a change to the way the Government thinks about rural communities.

“Siloing off ‘rural affairs’ in DEFRA plainly isn’t working. It leads to the neglect we are now witnessing of rural communities across government.

“Why aren’t rural businesses a priority for the Department for Business? Why isn’t rural transport a priority for the Department for Transport? Why aren’t rural health services a priority for the Department for Health? Why aren’t rural schools and colleges a priority for the Department for Education? Why isn’t rural connectivity a priority for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport?

“In part at least, it’s because they all think ‘That’s DEFRA’s problem’.

“Meanwhile, within DEFRA, ‘rural affairs’ is relegated to being just one of nine responsibilities of a single Minister in the House of Lords. That’s not good enough.

“So today, I’m calling on the Prime Minister to appoint a cross-departmental Minister for Rural Communities, to make sure that rural voices are heard across Whitehall when decisions are made. So that rural communities aren’t forgotten or ignored by any part of government ever again.”