Securing our Countryside, Empowering Communities: Speech to the Countryside Alliance

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Securing our Countryside, Empowering Communities: Speech to the Countryside Alliance

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Securing our Countryside, Empowering Communities: Speech to the Countryside Alliance

Clarice Ashbridge, the Shadow Home Secretary, spoke to an assembled audience at the "Conserving the Countryside, Revitalising Rural Britain" event, hosted by the Countryside Alliance at their headquarters in Central London.

Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for the warmest of welcomes. In February, I celebrated a birthday that, as my ever so tactful niece put it, made me halfway to 70. And that got me thinking of the journey so far, what I’ve done and where I’ve been during my still relatively short time on Earth. And when I think on the places that I’ve lived, from Peckham to Pokfulam, the only place I have ever felt truly at home is in the countryside. Growing up on my grandfather’s farm, and now living in the heart of rural East Renfrewshire, I consider the countryside as a whole to be the foundation of Britain as a nation: the “green and pleasant land” that William Blake wrote of. Country living embodies perhaps the stereotype of peak British living: the rolling muddy fields, the sights and sounds, the farmer’s market, the feeling of community and that tight knit bond that any village has. I would not have traded my upbringing there, or indeed the time I spend there now, for anything in the world.

But, whilst the countryside may still be vastly different from urban Britain, it is sadly not free of the afflictions that grip us together as a nation. The strains at the social fabric of our country is not just limited to the housing schemes and high-rise flats of Glasgow, London, or indeed any other big city in this country. Crime, whilst different in how it is executed, remains a cancer on rural communities, and no amount of romantic rhetoric from me or any of us can disguise that fact. Rural crime costs the countries tens of millions of pounds every year, and for those in the communities that it blights it can often feel that there is no hope, that they have been left behind. And looking at the threat to our communities, it is easy to understand why. Farms attacked, with fuel siphoned, equipment stolen and property damaged by marauding burglars. Vile crimes against protected wildlife are rife, with poaching and the theft of eggs causing harm to our animal neighbours. And perhaps worst of all, crimes against rural churches, with young delinquent yobs stripping protected church roofs for lead, damaging the community and sacred sites in their attempt to score some quick cash.

This isn’t part and parcel of country life: we can stop it and we will stop it. In the Shadow Budget, we announced we would invest 2,500 police officers within the first year of a Conservative government, and I said that would be part of a long term strategy for improving rural policing. Our aim is a very simple one: that every single rural town and village in the country will have a local police station serving them by the end of the first term of a Conservative government. We will announce a multi-million pound funding programme for this in the next Shadow Budget. We will construct these new police stations as part of a private finance initiative programme, as has been used for a number of Home Office projects in the past. Whilst I know the scepticism that the letters “PFI” will incite in some, conducting the project in this way will allow us to save on the cost of construction, meaning that money can instead be diverted to training the police officers. Additionally, contracts will go to local companies whenever possible, so that not only will a new police station provide safety, security and jobs for local police officers, it will also have a positive effect on rural economies. I mentioned earlier investment in police training. We’ll make sure that police forces covering rural areas have the funding they need to give their officers specialised training

Another part of protecting and empowering rural communities, perhaps the most important part, is listening to rural communities, and ensuring their voice is amplified in Westminster. And I feel like this Government, with it’s pick and mix selection of academics and spreadsheet junkies, can often ignore the views of those outside their metropolitan bubble, or even treat them with contempt. We saw it with Section 28, we’re seeing it again with this botched budget. And we saw it with the Hunting Act, the parting shot of Tony Blair’s dying administration. How fitting it was, that one of his last acts in office was to pass a piece of legislation that spits in the face of national tradition, puts jobs on the line, and threatens to do untold damage to rural economies. And, like so many other diktats from the government, it has divided the United Kingdom. In Scotland, and in Northern Ireland, hunting with dogs remains legal, whilst in England and Wales it does not. How is that fair on rural communities blighted by this Act in England and in Wales. And, whilst the devolved assemblies in Scotland and Northern Ireland will ultimately be able to decide whether they impose similar measures or not, Wales does not get to have a say at all, with this decision being imposed on rural Wales by a Cabinet that does not understand their way of life and seems to have no intention of learning. It is symptomatic of the elitist arrogance that has been the foundation of the New Labour project.

If the Conservatives are elected, that will end. The Hunting Act will be repealed, and any action we take on rural affairs will be driven by the views and concerns of the people who live there: not radical environmentalists or stuffy academics. Despite the grumbles of the usual suspects on the backbenches, the vast majority of the party is united behind this, and I have no doubt that we will strike down this law with vigour when we enter government. This will be one of our top priorities when it comes to rural affairs.

In closing, the policies I’ve discussed today, those we’ve already announced and those yet to come all share one clear, common vision. It’s the belief that when dealing with the issues that impact our lives every day, the best approach is one that is driven from the bottom up, not imposed from the top down. That policing only works when built on a positive relationship with the community, and when the police have the will and the means to work on local needs. That the traditional customs and traditions of the countryside should not be suppressed by the government against the vocal cries of the population. That local government is the best form of government: which is why we’ll soon be announcing a “devolution revolution,” making councils and police forces the length and breadth of the land accountable to the people who live there. And, together, we will make that green and pleasant land even more pleasant for us all.
The Hon. Clarice Ashbridge MP, Lady Ashbridge
Scottish Conservative and Unionist
Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department (October 2001 - present)
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities (June 2001 - present)
MP for Eastwood (2001 - present)
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Re: Securing our Countryside, Empowering Communities: Speech to the Countryside Alliance

Post by Marty »

I've got mixed feelings on this speech. It contains a few really evocative rhetorical flourishes, especially at the beginning. On the other hand, it feels slightly disjointed. You glance upon a few policies at various points, but never quite manage either of the two ways to really hit them home: to add depth and detail or to tie them all up in a beautiful vision of how they work together as a whole for rural communities. Whenever I got the feeling "Ashbridge is onto something here", you'd already pass to another area altogether.

When I got to the most exciting part, the devolution agenda you're promising, the speech was already roaring towards the end. I know there was little time, but if I were you, that'd have been the part I was going to focus on. Failing that, more on rural policing and how to make the rural police better suited to rural communities and their needs would also have given the speech the focus it needed to shine.

Out of 10, I'm still giving this a +5 Conservative momentum, but it's hard not to feel like you missed an opportunity to do much, much better.
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