Labour have today launched their rural manifesto, in which they outline how they’d ensure the economy works for people in rural areas.
Labour’s plan includes a pledge to replace the Agricultural Wages Board (abolished by the coalition) with a taskforce that would address low pay and conditions for agricultural workers.
Alongside policies like the energy price freeze, the party’s rural manifesto (which you can read here) includes expanding the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (the supermarket watchdog); cutting rates for small businesses, which employ more than 2/3rds of the rural workforce; and giving rural communities increased power over bus services.
Maria Eagle, Shadow Secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, explained the difference between Labour’s and the Tories’ plans:
“The Tory plan is failing hardworking families in rural Britain. Wages are over £4500 lower than those in urban areas, while at the same time many rural families face higher living costs.
“Labour’s better plan for rural Britain is based on building a rural economy that rewards hard work and shares prosperity. Only Labour has a plan to make our economy work for working people in all of parts of Britain – for those living in rural, coastal and market town communities as well as in cities.”
Campaign ground Labour coast and country welcomed the manifesto, saying:
We welcome its creation especially as it properly focuses on the issues that concern people in country, and many coastal, communities – the higher cost of living, the lower wages and the challenges of building successful thriving communities when there is less connectivity, fewer homes and less public transport. In many respects these issues mirror what all the communities of Britain, be they coast, country or city, would like to see, i.e. decent wages, support for small businesses and the jobs growth they offer, fair prices for energy users and for food producers, opportunities to grow a community with decent affordable homes, better connectivity to the digital world and local control of transport.
These are all issues that a government that was bothered could do something about; for whatever reason that wasn’t the coalition. They are also issues that a successful One Nation Labour government would seek to address for the whole of the country, especially when we appreciate that there are many more people living in coastal and country Britain than live in London; for the more partisan, let’s appreciate that many of these people and communities are in the marginals that are the difference between our defeat and our victory.
So let’s make sure the whole of Britain understands what Labour can do for them on the issues that matter to them, wherever they live, lets keep getting out into the market and coastal towns, the villages and hamlets, and let’s show these communities what could be different by 2020 under an Ed Miliband led Labour Government.
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