BEHIND THE HEADLINES
The politics of the countryside
There have been many political upheavals since our two major parties published their 2019 election manifestos, and the environment has not escaped 2022’s turmoil. So what are the current positions of Conservative and Labour on rural issues? asks Mark Rowe
ENERGY
CONSERVATIVES:
The Conservative Manifesto 2019 pledged “Reaching Net Zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution.” The manifesto also declared that the offshore wind industry will reach 40GW by 2030, and the Government would “enable new floating wind farms”. This autumn, the Government indicated it was looking to make it harder for solar farms to be given permission; the The Government has recently restored the ban on fracking but indicated that North Sea oil and gas producers may be issued with more extraction licences.
LABOUR:
The party has pledged to establish GB Energy, a £250billion green transformation fund supporting renewable energy – wind, wave, tidal and solar along with nuclear – produced and sold domestically to “deliver energy independence for the country”. Labour leader Keir Starmer said the party would double the amount of onshore wind, triple solar and more than quadruple offshore wind power, “re-industrialising” the country to create a zero carbon self-sufficient electricity system. The strategy would reduce household energy bills and create 500,000 jobs, he said.
INVESTMENT ZONES
CONSERVATIVES:
The Conservative Manifesto 2019 pledged: “We will protect and enhance the Green Belt. We will improve poor quality land, increase biodiversity and make our beautiful countryside more accessible for local community use.” The recent autumn mini-budget indicated the Government plans to establish tax-cutting Investment Zones in 38 areas, with the aim of driving growth. This would involve the liberalising of planning rules to release more land for commercial and housing development. A related HM Treasury paper declares an intention for “accelerated development” and says the need for planning applications “will be minimised and where planning applications remain necessary, they will be radically streamlined.”
LABOUR:
“There’s nothing new about Investment Zones,” said a spokesperson for Jim McMahon, shadow environment secretary. “Every time they’ve been tried all they did was displace growth and jobs, not create them. Slashing standards, destroying the environment and scrapping affordable housing is reckless and offers no prospect of sustainable growth.”
POST-BREXIT FARMING SUBSIDIES
CONSERVATIVES:
The Government is using its Agriculture Act 2020 to replace European Union subsidies and disentangle the UK from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which subsidised farmers, for the most part based on food production and size of land holdings. In its place are new subsidies under the umbrella term of Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS), driven by the mantra “public money for public goods”. ELMS place a greater emphasis on farming methods that are nature-friendly.
However, this autumn, the Government announced a “rapid review” of ELMS, the cornerstones of its post-Brexit environment policy. A return to EU-style payments based on land area was among the options.
LABOUR:
“Labour supports the shift towards public funds going to support public goods,” said a spokesperson for Jim McMahon, “and ensuring that food security is supported but in harmony with the environment. Labour wants to see more food grown in this country, to good quality – not an influx of lower standard food imports undermining our livestock farmers.”
Labour says it will support sustainable farming and has pledged to “buy, make and sell more British food… with a plan to raise standards and award more public contracts to British food producers.”
WILDLIFE PROTECTIONS AND PESTICIDES
CONSERVATIVES:
The party’s 2019 manifesto pledged to implement the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan and establish a £500 million Blue Planet Fund to help protect oceans from plastic pollution, warming sea temperatures and overfishing, and extend the Blue Belt programme to preserve the maritime environment. In April, the Government announced moves to prohibit damaging fishing activity in four Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
In September, the then Prime Minister Liz Truss published a Brexit Freedoms Bill that will see 570 EU-derived environmental laws removed at the end of 2023 to cut red tape.
A draft revised National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides increased the uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and sustainable crop protection, but allows the use of banned pesticides, such as the bee-harming neonicotinoid thiamethoxam, on an “emergency” basis.
LABOUR:
The party has described Government plans as “a bonfire of environmental regulation” and called for a reversal of the decision to temporarily lift the ban on thiamethoxam. It has also pledged to establish a legal right for citizens to breathe clean air by establishing a Clean Air Act. Labour has proposed the appointment of an Animal Welfare Commissioner to ensure that Government policy across Whitehall is continually informed and underpinned by the latest scientific evidence on animal sentience and best practice in animal welfare. The party says the next Labour Government will bring the protections and opportunities afforded to our national parks to our coastal areas, too.
WATER AND RIVERS
CONSERVATIVES:
The Government has pledged to crack down on sewage discharges into the sea and lakes by 2050. DEFRA says water companies will have to deliver £56bn of capital investment over the next 25 years to stop untreated sewage spilling into the UK’s seas and rivers. Firms will have until 2035 to improve how they manage all the sewage overflows discharging next to bathing water, and improve 75% of the overflows at top nature sites.
LABOUR:
Labour says it will cut sewage discharges by 90% by 2030, require mandatory sewage outlet monitoring and bring in automatic and severe fines for discharges by water companies in order to reduce the discharge of raw sewage.
RURAL ISSUES AND OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES
Devolution means that many rural issues are the responsibility of local administrations in Wales and Scotland.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
The party has pledged to invest heavily in R&D in carbon removal and negative emissions. It will set a “UK bio-economy strategy” alongside CAP reform of agriculture and land use. The Lib Dems say they will restore the UK’s natural environment by cleaning up waterways, restoring peat bogs and planting trees. They would aim for Britain to get 80% of its electricity from green energy by 2030.
Source: Liberal Democrats A Vision for Britain
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
The SNP says that by 2025, half of all funding for farmers and crofters will be tied to efficiency, productivity, biodiversity and sustainability. It will develop a single marketing brand for all Scottish produce: ‘Sustainably Scottish’. The party says neither fracking nor underground coal gasification have a place in Scotland’s energy mix.
Source: SNP 2021 Election Manifesto
PLAID CYMRU
Plaid Cymru would introduce a Welsh Agriculture Bill that would place a greater emphasis on public goods, such as decarbonisation, regenerative agriculture, sustainable food production and enhanced biodiversity; and introduce a baseline support payment to offer the farming industry greater economic stability. It would introduce a Nature Act with statutory targets to restore biodiversity by 2050.
Source: www.partyof.wales/amaeth_dyfodol_farming_future
GREEN PARTY OF ENGLAND AND WALES
The Green Party says Investment Zones will threaten the environment and money should instead be targeted at renewable energy and helping nature. “ELMS are not sufficient but are better than CAP,” said a spokesperson, “but we favour ELMS Plus, delivering public money for public good, plus a Land Value Tax rebated against nature regeneration work. We need domestic legislation at least as stringent as the European Union Habitats Directive and an independent court to enable citizens to challenge the Government if protective environmental legislation is breached.”
Source: Written replies from Green Party press office