Nick Herbert outlines Countryside Manifesto to Stourbridge

Margot James welcomed Nick Herbert, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to speak to Conservative Supporters from Stourbridge, Halesowen, Bromsgrove and South Staffordshire constituencies at a meeting held earlier in July at the Stourbridge Rugby Club.

Nick Herbert outlined the party’s new Rural Action Manifesto, he said “Rural England has suffered a decade of disrespect by Labour. Quiet communities have become angered by a government which won’t even listen, still less give them a say.
People have marched and protested. They have travelled up to Westminster to lobby Parliament. But too often Ministers are deaf to the countryside. Local services have been withdrawn, rural communities have been denied a voice, and power has been taken away from local people. We will return real power and decision-making to individuals and communities, so that people have a genuine say over the matters that affect them locally. And we will unlock the potential of the rural economy to deliver jobs from sustainable businesses of the future”.

In her vote of thanks to Nick Herbert Margot said “this government has tried to drive a wedge between town and country but many of the issues that Nick has talked about, Post Office closures and the overturning of planning decisions by a remote body in Bristol, have affected urban areas just as badly, the excellent policies Nick has outlined for us today will encourage the many people in Stourbridge who care passionately about the green belt that borders our town”.

More details on the Conservative Party’s agenda for Rural Action can be found at www.conservativeruralaction.com.