Simon Hart MP: The Government is right to recognise the countryside as a force for good in our nation

Simon Hart is the Member of Parliament for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.

We are told that the next election will be fought on urban turf. The traditional vision of the Conservatives being a party of rolling acres, Dibley-style villages and tweed and corduroy will be replaced with something more cosmopolitan.

But what does all that mean? The bedrock of Conservative values is that we resist social distinctions. The urban/rural divide is as unattractive to proper conservatives as the north/south one. We respect cultures, even traditional ones, and recognise that because Britain is not one size, a one size solution is no solution at all.

The problems facing Britain today are universal – it’s about jobs; about the private sector picking up where the public sector left off, promoting core values and about sticking up for strivers. People who work hard, play hard, save money, bring their kids up properly and save a bit for old age. Rural Britain is no different. The buzzwords of our urban malaise are deprivation, poverty, education, high fuel prices, travel costs, available housing and uneven health care. Talk to someone in mid Wales, Cumbria and the West Country and they will say “tell me about it”. In some rural cases it can be even worse.

There may not be the density of population, nor the media interest, and yes, crime is lower and the landscape more conducive to a healthy lifestyle. But case by case the story is much the same. When this was debated recently in parliament several things struck home. MPs had similar stories the length and breadth of Britain; everyone could cite overlapping issues, and if you remove the word ‘rural’ then we could have been talking about any of our cities in 21^st century Britain.

Simon Hart: The next government must engage with the countryside

Simon Hart is Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance and the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.

Last week - along with Kate Hoey, the Countryside Alliance chairman and Labour MP for Vauxhall - I launched the Countryside Alliance's Rural Manifesto. No great surprise there you might say; every lobby group will be doing the same over the coming months - but ours is a bit different.

It seeks to attract endorsement from individual members of the public, which will be presented to the three main parties prior to the General Election. We want it to be read, we want it to generate discussion and we want it to make people think. We want the main parties to abandon any preconceived notions they may have as to its origins and embrace it.

The Rural Manifesto cover five topics: housing, transport, rural services, farming and, of course, repeal of the Hunting Act. At the heart of the matter is our desire to inform, persuade and educate our audience.

This is not a random choice, nor are these five necessarily the most important issues for everyone. What they do represent is a five piece jigsaw. Each piece connects with the next. Some have huge practical implications, whilst others make important political statements.