Extracts from Lords
debate on Rural Areas: Public Services
(Con):...The Government rightly laud their policy for a
digital economy. However, they must grasp the fact that digital
access in the countryside, which represents the 5% hardest-to-reach
broadband access, precludes rural GPs accessing electronic
prescriptions to the benefit of the patient and
precludes farmers downloading and completing
farm payment claims online...
(LD):...I shall finish on a more positive note. Innovative
ideas are coming forward from one of our rural police officers. He
manages to keep crime rates in his area right down by having an
excellent relationship with local farmers and linking them together
with radios so that they can report directly to each other and to
the police any crime suspected of being committed. There is a huge
success story in Richmond that has little to do with public
services because of the small amount of public money given but has
a great deal to do with the lifeblood of rural areas: volunteers.
We renovated and rejuvenated our old station building a few years
ago into a film, food and arts centre. The station has two cinemas,
an art gallery, a heritage centre, a superb award-winning bakery, a
microbrewery and a fantastic ice cream parlour, which is very good
in this weather...
(LD):...The rural economy is struggling.
Connectivity is poor, broadband is non-existent in some areas and,
as the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, said, businesses
and farmers are finding it extremely
difficult to function without a reliable internet connection.
Businesses rely on being able to make regular contact with their
supply chains and their customers. There are more SMEs per head of
the population in rural areas than in urban areas. These businesses
deserve a decent broadband speed in order to survive...
(Lab):...We know that farmers are having a tough time too,
with delays to rural payments and increased global competition
putting pressure on their profits. The uncertainty of Brexit adds
new worries about the distribution of future subsidies, access to
markets and labour availability, which could further undermine the
stability of rural communities. Can the Minister update us on what
is being done to reassure farmers that future EU markets for
British food will be retained and that permanent and seasonal EU
workers will still be available to work on the land? I look forward
to his response...
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Extract from
Commons statement on Exiting the EU
(Clwyd South)
(Lab): Over the past few weeks, great concern has been
expressed by major manufacturing companies, by farmers and by the
service sector in north Wales over the Government’s approach to
Brexit. Those people do not have a political axe to grind. They
are deeply concerned about jobs and about our economy. What
confidence can we have that the Government and the Prime Minister
will listen to them, bearing in mind that the deal that was
agreed around the Cabinet table is unravelling as we speak and is
very unlikely to secure any agreement anywhere?
The Prime Minister: We have been listening to
manufacturers, to businesses, to farmers and to others up and
down the country who provide jobs, and that is precisely why we
have come forward with a proposal that delivers on Brexit, but
does so in a way that protects jobs and livelihoods.
