Samantha Niblett, Vice-Chair (Membership) of Erewash CLP and Founder of Labour Women in Tech I don’t always agree with the Country Land and Business Association but it has a point when it says that rural areas are 19% less productive and could generate £43bn more for the UK's economy if it was levelled up. We…
We're happy to support and promote the following online session with Labour's new Rural Affairs Shadow, Daniel Zeichner MP. See below for further details and to RSVP. There are plenty of news articles about people wanting to flee the cities for rural idylls yet coronavirus has not been plain sailing for people who already live…
I have spent decades arguing the case for better investment by the government into our rural areas. Here are my thoughts on this subject in the current climate. I readily accept that there is significant inter-dependence between urban and rural areas and that the City of London, and Northern Powerhouse are obviously major contributors to…
Rural economies are not just like urban ones but with less people and more cows, they are distinctive, providing not just livelihoods for rural dwellers but increasingly locations for business start-ups, often digitally enabled. The countryside and its landscapes and wildlife is one of England’s greatest assets and many people choose to live in rural…
A few weeks ago I was sat in the Home Room in the House of Lords having a conversation over dinner about the “digital village”. It is a classic wood-panelled room with a long wooden table set for dinner with white table linen, House of Lords crockery and plenty of wine glasses. There were…
All too often when policy makers consider the countryside they think of chocolate box images of the rural idyll. These assumptions, however, mask a nuanced reality in which rural areas are much more vibrant and dynamic than many imagine but also suffer far greater deprivation and poverty too. No more is this the case than…
A warm evening and a railway station with a Betjeman poem on the platform (Pershore station, or a Liverish Journey First Class) – a very English setting from which to be picked up for an evening’s discussion with the Pershore branch of West Worcester CLP, and their guests from Evesham. Gathering in a recently refurbished…
While much of the Labour family is rightly occupied with their local election campaign for tomorrow, some of the early steps in preparing for ‘The English election’ of 2019 (elections in 192 District Councils, 47 Unitaries and 33 Mets on 2nd May '19), began last week. Labour:COAST&COUNTRY (LCC) brought together seven of our newer MPs…
Rural and coastal communities face a number of unique problems that are often misunderstood by the politicians in London who set national policy. ‘Coast and Country: Have your Say’ is a free public meeting, giving you an opportunity to share your concerns about the challenges of living in rural and coastal South West Devon and…
You can’t cut 49% from council support and expect everything to keep humming. It wasn’t as though when Cameron and Clegg rode their big blue and yellow bulldozers into power that councillors were saying “Hi guys, we have loads of slack, so plough down local services, they don’t matter and we can take it.” All…
