Last week the Conservatives held their first ever Party Conference in Manchester.Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert’s speech focused on the challenges facing rural communities.

Rural Services

Nick Herbet announced that a Conservative Government would breathe new life into the countryside with a series of measures, including:

• Shifting decision-making away from central government to local communities
• Increasing access to public services, by encouraging small rural schools and protecting family doctor services
• Fighting rural poverty by creating opportunity, with less regulation on rural businesses

Mr. Herbet said a Conservative Government has a moral obligation to address the problems facing rural communities, readdressing the years of neglect from the Labour government that have left rural communities struggling.

During his speech Nick Herbet attacked the Labour Governments record in supporting rural businesses, paying particular attention to rural farms. ‘If we devalue British farming, then we are devaluing Britain. Labour’s short-sighted policy is that it doesn’t matter where our food comes from. As a result, we’ve seen food imports rise and our own production fall’

Eric Ollerenshaw Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Lancaster and Fleetwood welcomed the new initiatives, ‘These announcements show that we believe in governing for the whole nation, treating city, town and country will equal respect’

‘Rural areas have immense potential to help deliver sustainable jobs, and Labour just don’t care about the countryside’