Labour's rural MPs fear neglect by Burnham

Andy Burnham has been urged to stop rural voters “drifting away” from Labour by a group of MPs cautioning against too much urban bias.  The ’King of the North’ was told by those representing countryside seats won by the party for the first time in 2024 not to treat their areas as peripheral.

A policy blueprint by the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG), which has 40 MPs — about 10 per cent of the parliamentary party — said any devolution drive should not only benefit major urban centres.  The comments came in a report, due to be published on Tuesday, that criticised successive governments for treating rural areas as “economically marginal”.

James Naish, vice-chair of the LRRG, wrote: “The purpose of devolution shouldn’t simply be to shift power from Whitehall to major urban centres.  It should go much further and ensure that communities with different geographies, economies and needs are properly understood within national policy. Rural Britain cannot be treated as an afterthought, nor can urban policy simply be retrofitted to rural communities.”

He added that these communities “shouldn’t be seen as peripheral to national renewal” and that the next phase of Labour in government should not see them as areas requiring financial support.

Figures cited by the LRRG showed just 27 per cent of voters surveyed for its report were confident the government would strengthen its rural policy, while 40 per cent were not confident.

Although concern was voiced over the scale of the challenge Labour will face in rural seats at the next election, the LRRG said there was still a chance for Burnham to change the party’s fortunes.   Among the policies he was encouraged to consider were a business rates taper for rural and farm-based firms, as well as making it easier for farmers to diversify their property to boost income.

Burnham was urged to make rural Britain a separate part of the government’s tourism strategy and give communities more perks for hosting renewable energy infrastructure.

Guy Bland

How is Guy Bland, the fictitious Labour MP for the rural constituency of Borsetshire South getting on?  Readers may recall that he stood as a candidate in the hope of using it as a launch pad to get a better job in the charity sector and was to his surprise elected.

Bland had long ago given up any hope of defending the seat at the next election.   He is no fan of Andy Burnham and only belatedly and reluctantly nominated him as leader.  He realises that he is likely to lose his unpaid role as assistant whip for rural Labour MPs.

One remote hope is that as Burnham is the first Catholic prime minister and is therefore prevented by early 19th century legislation from undertaking ecclesiastical functions, perhaps Bland as an Anglican who lives in the cathedral close at Felpersham could undertake them on his behalf?