How will you ensure the protection and enhancement of UK food security, support sustainable farming practices, and balance food production needs with environmental commitments and renewable energy installations?
On food security and sustainable farming I would continue to refine some of the good policies we introduced in Government.
For example, free of the Common Agricultural Policy we have been able to adapt the support we provide farmers to better encourage sustainable farming practices that preserve the soil for future generations through policies such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Through policies such as the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund we began to help farms modernise to increase their productivity which is key to enhancing our food security by helping UK farmers compete.
I know that many farmers feel the schemes established in recent years have been too burdensome and paid too little heed to farming as a business and source of food security. Re-wilding and conservation has its place, as we all love our countryside, but I acknowledge that the balance of priorities has not always been right.
On balancing energy and food production I would concentrate on getting the cheap and secure energy supplies we need because this is a large part of farmers' and rural residents costs. We should do this without sacrificing prime agricultural land:
New nuclear energy plants would be an efficient way of providing energy that is low carbon while keeping prime agricultural land free for food production.
I opposed a large scale solar farm in my constituency and as leader of the Conservative Party, I would push for key agricultural land to be protected from being developed as solar farms.
The UK has more than enough space – in our seas, on roofs and on non-productive land to deploy renewable energy without compromising on food security.
What specific policies will you implement to support rural communities, in areas such as maintaining broadband and mobile coverage, addressing rural crime, improving rural public transport and banking facilities, and ensuring housing for local residents while preserving rural character and landscape?
In rural areas, fly tipping, burglary and theft of farm equipment have a real negative impact and we need the perpetrators caught and punished. To do this we need to back our police and give them the powers and resources they need. Keeping dangerous offenders in prison rather than letting them out, as Labour are doing, ensures that the persistent offenders that often perpetrate this crime are punished.
On housing I would progress the policies I advocated as Housing Secretary where I took steps to provide housing for local residents in keeping with their surroundings:
To deliver homes for local people I rolled out the First Homes Scheme providing a 30% discount against the market price of housing for first time buyers and key workers helping local people on to the housing ladder. The same discount is then passed on to future owners benefitting local communities for generations.
I worked with the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission co-chaired by the esteemed Conservative philosopher Sir Roger Scruton and personally ensured that beauty would be put at the heart of the National Planning Policy Framework which Labour has now shamefully removed.
I delivered brownfield regeneration by allowing unused commercial buildings to be turned into homes and made it easier for homeowners to build upwards to provide gentle density.
On housing targets, Labour have shifted the burden of housing delivery away from cities and onto the countryside which isn’t just bad for rural areas, it’s also the wrong choice for the UK economy. As Conservative Party leader I would support reversing this decision, and building homes in urban areas where costs are highest, while preserving our beloved rural landscapes for generations to come.
As the MP for a rural area, I know that my constituents need to see the sustained investment in transport infrastructure and digital connectivity vital to a modern economy and I delivered greater investment while in government.
As Local Government Secretary I increased the rural grant to local councils to its then highest ever level to reflect in part the higher cost of delivering services in rural areas.
I helped establish the levelling up agenda and I made sure it specifically provided capital funding for projects in rural areas. The Towns Fund invested in market towns from Hereford to King’s Lynn, which would not otherwise have received significant funding for skills, regeneration, culture and housing. I know we need to do more in this regard and I am deeply committed to levelling up.
On broadband, I helped persuade Boris Johnson to pursue the policy of spreading super fast broadband to all parts of the country which benefited rural areas. We are fortunate in Newark to benefit from the investment in full fibre technology that CityFibre have made.
How will you support the economic development of rural areas beyond farming, including initiatives to boost local businesses, enhance public services, and create job opportunities to ensure the vitality and sustainability of rural economies?
We need to remove some of the regulations that prevent farmers diversifying their income in ways in keeping with the local environment that we have seen captured so brilliantly in Clarksons’ Farm.
During covid I changed the regulations to allow cafes to become takeaways so they could survive, we need a similar effort with the farming sector allowing farmers to better use their facilities to boost their revenues.
We also need to support activities that are a key part of rural life. I support country sports like shooting and would seek to protect them from further erosion by Labour.
Like other businesses rural enterprises need reforms to lower the cost of energy, encourage employment and to make our public services more effective so we can reduce the burden of taxation. I would back changes including:
Bringing the cost of energy for businesses down by having secure, home-grown sources of energy, including oil and gas and new nuclear plants rather than wasting billions of taxpayers’ money on Labour’s Great British Energy.
Cutting Labour’s planned red tape to make it easier to hire new staff.
Having a small state that works and not a big one that fails through reforms to the NHS to boost productivity and lower waiting lists. This will help boost the local labour force as recruitment can be a real problem in rural areas.
Lastly, many in rural communities are worried that Labour will seek to impose inheritance tax on the family farm, I will rigorously oppose this move which would destroy the fabric of rural life.
Read what the other leadership contenders had to say.