Our small, rural farms are vanishing. Two-thirds of our farming families have gone in the last few decades. As they disappear, the basic structure of rural life is broken: farm-houses become expensive homes in empty valleys, our small village schools are forced to close, and services are increasingly centralised in our nearby towns. Without support, the character, culture, and history of our rural areas will be lost forever. This is why I am determined to support our farming communities, who are under such extraordinary pressure from a dozen directions; be it new environmental regulations, high fuel costs, or the vast, powerful forces of the supermarkets. Living, rural communities need to be seen as part of everyone’s British identity – farms are not only businesses, but bearers of culture; the legacy of more than a thousand years of cultivation.
Rory, George Monbiot, Mark Cocker and Minette Batters participated in “The Fight for the Countryside: Britain Should Rewild its Uplands”, hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby on Tuesday 10 July. You can listen to the full debate here: https://mediacdn.acast.com/encoded/14f6ad8d-8ec6-4a45-96c6-0dcefa4d2f22/1a1d8d33-71dd-453c-a801-efd8d70fd359/encoded-62324b943de156f9dc559eadeb66fb30-64.mp3 And Rory’s speech, which is HERE. The full debate can be viewed here:
Some of my views on rewilding, ahead of tomorrow's debate with @Minette_Batters @GeorgeMonbiot and @MarkCocker2 for @intelligence2 pic.twitter.com/tml0HK3XNM — Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) July 9, 2018
Rewilding seems to be fast becoming as much a fashion amongst landowners as Capability Brown parks were in the eighteenth century. It is spreading from Yellowstone National Park to the Cumberland plain. In Scotland Anders Povlsen, the richest man in Denmark, is turning 220,000 acres of land – about a third the size of Penrith and […]
Rory Stewart MP has been in touch today with Farming Minister George Eustice to request the urgent release of Defra funding to subsidise the cost of fallen stock disposal, as the devastating impact of Storm Emma on some farms becomes clear. Defra last relaxed the rules on stock disposal in 2013 due to extreme weather […]
For many decades, Cumbrian planners have tried to create economic growth by backing large Cumbrian industries. This is understandable because our industrial revolution was a miracle. The slow growth of our traditional rural economy, celebrated by Wordsworth, was blown apart in the second half of the nineteenth century, as we tore into the land, extracting […]
Local MP Rory Stewart has been on a fact-finding visit to the Animal Plant and Health Agency’s Plumpton premises near Penrith in his constituency, to see at first-hand the important work that the agency does in safeguarding animal and plant health for the benefit of the population, the environment, and the economy. He praised their […]
Hard-pressed UK dairy farmers will receive a one-off support payment to help with their cash-flow problems stemming from the current low prices for milk and other produce, the Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss announced today. In England, dairy farmers will share £15.5 million in recognition of the prolonged period of low prices in this particular farming […]
Farmers in England will soon find it simpler and easier to get advice and guidance from government with the introduction of the Rural Services Helpline next week. From 30 September, farmers will have a single phone number they can call for any questions they want to direct to either the Rural Payments Agency or the […]
Penrith and The Border MP, Rory Stewart, has again called for greater support for Cumbrian small farmers in his most recent meeting with Lake District National Park Chief Executive, Richard Leafe, in his longstanding campaign to preserve small upland farms, and the families and local communities they support. Rory Stewart has repeatedly met with local […]
Rory’s campaign for more direct support for Upland Farmers has received a boost from Natural England’s announcement of a £26/hectare increase in direct payments.This increase will significantly increase the income for upland farms. It follows on from the MP’s long-standing battle to save ‘small family farms’ which have been rapidly vanishing over the last two […]