Rural Affairs

Jayne Kirkham Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Spencer]

Let me take a moment—Members throughout the House have an opportunity to watch—to address that exact case. The Labour party wants to tackle big landowners like James Dyson and the Grosvenor Group; I have two points. First, take for a moment the incredible work done by Dyson Farming on food technology, which is increasing the productivity of our land and the standard of food production on his farms. Think of what the Grosvenor Group has done in the moorlands and peatlands of the north-west—it is a protector of our environment and has supported our natural environment and increased the ecosystem.

Secondly, do the Government think for a moment that either of those two people are going to go to bed worried about the IHT change? No, they are not. They will dodge it, much like many of the well-heeled business people always do with taxes. The people who will bear the brunt of the Labour party’s tax policies are small farms—family farms—that do not have a huge amount of capital. When we try to tax and demand liquidity from an illiquid source, we force people to fire sale their capital. It will not work. We have to understand the economics.

The risks are real. In Needham Market, Hopkins Homes built the St George estate at the base of a hill in an old disused quarry close to sea level, and right next to an area considered at high risk of flooding.

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Patrick Spencer]

I will not, because I do not have long.

In Framlingham, developments either side of Station road have increased the risk of surface flow in an area that is, again, at high risk of flooding. All these places were hugely impacted by Storm Babet, and I believe the impact was made exponentially worse by huge housing developments cluttering our countryside. Between 2001 and 2021, Framlingham’s population increased by 1,200, which is nearly 50%. The population in Debenham increased by 16%. Great Blakenham has more than doubled in size. If we continue to use the Suffolk countryside to solve our housing crisis, the consequences will be disastrous.

--- Later in debate ---

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

Given the time limit, I cannot deliver the magnum opus I wrote on the train on the way down here, but having been told in a call with Northumberland county council that one of the school catchment areas in my constituency is larger than the area surrounded by the M25, I think I can speak on rural affairs with authority.

It has been said to me in my constituency when I have been out and about that we pay more and get less in our communities. We go to smaller shops, so we have to buy things that are less efficiently priced; and our communities are used to being forgotten. They are used to being under-invested in, and to seeing their younger people leave due to the inability to find an appropriate job and home. One of the real tragedies of the last 14 years has been the Conservative party’s failure to appreciate that, and to invest in those communities. I gently invite Conservative Members to reflect on the reason why I stand here as the first ever Labour MP for Hexham, and why so many of my party colleagues represent rural constituencies. It is not just because it was a change election; it is because the Conservatives fell out of sync with what rural communities wanted and needed.

I am very proud to be out there working with and meeting local civic organisations, such as the Clean Tyne campaign led by Dr Stephen Westgarth, or Sustainable Haltwhistle. I have also sat at the kitchen table with my farmers to talk about the issues with the sustainable farming incentive, and payment schemes that do not really work for upland farmers. I invite the Secretary of State or the Minister responsible for farming to come and meet upland farmers in my constituency, who have really positive stories about the work they want to do, but who have been disadvantaged and had their hands tied by the legacy we have inherited.

I would like briefly to plug my Westminster Hall debate on school transport in Northumberland tomorrow. Although I will be speaking about school transport in that county, I would very much welcome participants from across the country, as I know that getting to school and accessing a great state education is fundamental for everyone.

Finally, I would like to touch on the health of the rivers. The north-east is one of the most iconic parts of the UK. We have Hadrian’s wall and some of the most stunning countryside in the UK, and we are a region defined by our rivers, including the Tyne, Tweed, Coquet, Wansbeck and Aln. One of the many reasons why I was sent to this place was the state of the River Tyne; it was seen by my community as an “open sewer”, to quote one person I spoke to on the doorstep, and there was an absolute lack of faith in the previous Government to get it cleaned up. The north-east would not be in the minds of so many people across the world if it was not for our rivers, and I absolutely welcome the steps this Government are already taking to clean them up. I know it will not be a quick process, but I look forward to working with them.

I want to touch on a few speeches by Opposition Members that were very constructive. They talked about rural-proofing policy, which is incredibly important. Rural policy should not just come up when the DEFRA team is sat on the Front Bench; it needs to be at the heart of every single thing this Government do to get our schools working, our economy moving, and our energy policy right.

[Jayne Kirkham]

In my constituency of Truro and Falmouth, housing is a major issue, as it is in many rural communities. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must take action on housing? We should, in particular, consider the impact of second homes in our rural communities.

[Joe Morris]

I absolutely agree. When I go to places like Bellingham, where I have a constituency surgery coming up soon, I am often told about the impact of second homes on the community. It contributes to a decline in a sense of place and in opportunities, and of course it crowds out younger people from getting on to the housing ladder. I agree that we urgently need to look at that, and I hope that the Government will consider it strongly.

Briefly, in the time I have left, I will celebrate the rural crime strategy. Members from all parts of the House have spoken about it a lot. During the election campaign, I spoke to a farmer who had someone try to nick her quad bike. She confronted him and had to wait 30 minutes for a police officer to arrive. She said that was a speedy response, and she was quite pleased with it. That just shows the level to which rural crime fighting sank under the previous Government.