Rural AffairsA fairer Deal For Rural Communities |
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Fair prices for foodOf every pound consumers spend on food in supermarkets just eight pence goes to the farmer. Liberal Democrats will introduce a legal duty to trade fairly, supported by a Food Trade Inspector within the Office of Fair Trading. This will protect farmers and consumers from unfair practices by supermarkets and processing companies. |
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Speed up reform of the Common Agricultural PolicyThe CAP fails to protect the interests of rural communities, family farms and the environment. We will press within the EU to speed up reform so that the public funding available is used to provide public benefits. These should include improved access and environmental protection, support for traditional farming and organic systems and new opportunities for agricultural products and local markets. We will use the UK’s CAP flexibility to support family farms and aid new entrants more effectively. |
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Save the UK’s fish and marine environmentWe will seek early further reform of the Common Fisheries Policy to give local fishermen and other stakeholders a real say in the management of their own regional waters. We will introduce a Marine Act to create a marine planning system to resolve problems of conflicting uses of the sea and sea bed. This would establish conservation zones for highly sensitive areas and strengthen protection of commercial fish stocks, dolphins, porpoises and other endangered marine wildlife. |
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Improve animal welfare Liberal Democrats will establish an Animal Protection Commission, bringing all animal welfare matters under the responsibility of a dedicated, expert body, with the duty to make sure that animal protection laws are properly enforced and kept up to date. We will introduce a new Animal Welfare Act to guarantee high standards of animal welfare across the board for farm livestock, working animals and domestic pets, and will close the loophole in existing legislation which allows people who have been banned from keeping animals still to own them if someone else has ‘custody’. |
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Successive governments – it didn’t just start with Labour – have failed rural Britain. |
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Until about a decade ago the majority of rural communities were traditionally Conservative, but under Conservative governments thousands of rural schools, post offices, police stations and other rural services and facilities were closed or withdrawn. Much council housing was sold off and local working families found themselves unable to find an affordable home in many communities. |
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The Conservatives’ mishandling of the BSE crisis has cost the country dearly. The Conservatives also saw UK fishermen as expendable when negotiating entry to the Common Fisheries Policy, which left both fish stocks and fishermen hopelessly under-protected. |
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But under Labour things have gone from bad to worse. Record numbers of farmers have left farming altogether. Labour has failed to stem the continuing decline in local services and the lack of affordable accommodation. The unfair funding systems introduced by the Conservatives, which penalise health, education and police in rural areas, have worsened under Labour. |
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I and my family come from a background of farming and fishing in my constituency. But I do not believe that you need to have been born and brought up in a rural way of life to recognise that the Conservatives represent a countryside for the privileged few, whilst Labour are completely out of touch with rural needs and way of life. It is no coincidence that Liberal Democrat MPs represent many of the most rural constituencies in the country. |
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I came into parliament to champion the people who live in the kind of rural communities I grew up in and now represent. Our manifesto offers a fair deal – at last – for Britain's rural communities. Andrew George - Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Food |
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I am passionate about the beauty of our landscape, and the communities who live within it. The policies throughout this manifesto are about protecting the environment and re-invigorating local services, proving to me that the Liberal Democrats are the only party that genuinely shares my concern – the real party of the countryside. Kate Parminter - Former Chief Executive of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England |
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Green ActionNo commercial GM crops unless we know they’re safe for the environment. We support the right of communities to create GM-free zones. We will insist on rigorous schemes of labelling and traceability in food to guarantee consumer choice. At the same time we will introduce measures to promote organic farming. |