Originally from: John
                        
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=86411&command=displayContent&sourceNode=86410&contentPK=7000837
THE COUNTRYSIDE'S A CRYING SHAME, MR BLAIR

09:00 – 11 September 2003

This is the image of heartbreak that stands out as a searing indictment of New Labour's policies on the countryside. Proud Westcountry farmer Layland Branfield was reduced to bitter tears when he saw his stock slaughtered during the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic.

Those tears, which were experienced by so many in farming communities traumatised by senseless culls and the devastation of their livelihoods, showed the personal toll of Government decision-making and policies.

For Mr Branfield, now vice-chairman of the Devon branch of the National Farmers' Union, the cruelties still go on. On Monday the WMN reported that his farm could be dug up in a Government-ordered probe of materials buried during the foot and mouth clean-up process. All this just when he and his family were rebuilding their lives. Nothing better testifies to the Government's policies on the countryside than their devastating effect on the farming community at the heart of life in the Westcountry.

But today we throw the spotlight on the Government's record on nine key indicators of people's standard of living and quality of life. We launch a series of articles examining New Labour's record on Farming, Fishing, Housing, Transport, Crime, Pensions, Health, Education and Traditions. We do so after Government ministers lined up to trumpet the Government's record as they marked the sixth anniversary of Tony Blair taking power as Prime Minister. We do so as the Government hosts a one-day forum in London to debate the issues affecting the countryside. And we do so after Exeter Labour MP and junior Defra minister Ben Bradshaw declared: "Any fair-minded person would accept that the Government has a good record on the countryside".

We have put that claim to the test and today deliver our verdict. We have given our score out of 10 for the Government's record and will be producing in-depth articles examining those key issues over the coming weeks, beginning on Friday.

Our reports begin as the Labour Party's rural MPs gather at Portcullis House in London for a Rural Policy Seminar. The event has already been dismissed by critics as a "gimmick". They point out how a party that is so often attacked as London-centric has chosen London for its venue on debating the countryside, and they pose the question – how can the vital issues be covered in just one day? On the eve of the forum the Countryside Alliance attacked Labour's record on rural affairs as "too little, too slow, too patronising and too dictatorial".

Chief executive designate Simon Hart, who is representing the alliance at the seminar, warned that Labour needed to prove its new seminar was more than a cynical window-dressing exercise. "This seminar must be seen by rural people to lead directly to some constructive action. Most of the issues this new seminar is covering have got worse under Labour. Rural people are invariably treated by Labour as second class citizens," he said.

Paul Tyler, Lib-Dem MP for North Cornwall, said of the event: "In 1997, after 18 years of neglect in so many parts of rural Britain, a lot of people were willing to give them a chance to see what they could do. But the alibi of blaming it all on the Tories will not wash – Labour has been in power for more than six years." That impression is backed up by the WMN's own analysis of the Government's performance – and the low priority attached to today's event.

Our enquiries over the past week into the summit and its agenda ran into a brick wall. A dozen phone calls to the Labour Party's press office managed to elicit little more information than the venue for the event. A letter on the summit from the Labour Party chairman, Ian McCartney – which was obtained by the WMN – provided some of the few details: "We are inviting MPs, MEPs, local council leaders and organisations representing rural interests to a discussion based around the party's policy documents 'Enhancing the quality of life', and 'sustainable communities, better transport'."

Yesterday, more details started to emerge of the forum and the issues it would tackle. Top priority for Labour's 180-strong rural MPs would be more money for a shake-up of the planning system to help increase low-cost housing. Peter Bradley, MP for The Wrekin, who organised the seminar, said: "The provision of new affordable housing is the key to rural revival and, in some cases, survival. The Government has done a great deal to support rural communities, but increasing affordable housing development must now be an urgent priority.

On affordable housing, the WMN scored the Government's performance at 3 out of 10. On Farming – the first of our key issues to be tackled on Friday – the Government's record is written on the face of Layland Branfield: 0.

Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo!Messenger