Rural Affairs

John Cooper Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

Late in 1745, Dumfries was menaced by the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, who demanded cash and shoes as he retreated north. Today, Dumfries and Galloway is threatened by the great pretenders, the Cabinet, who also want cash. Apparently, they are sorted for shoes and Croydon wellies, though.

At the weekend, I attended the Dumfries and Galloway life awards, a tremendous celebration of the people of south-west Scotland. They are self-starters and hard workers, and just as well, for they face not only indifference from the Scottish Government but active harm from this Government. I spoke with one award winner, Kerr, whose expansion plans for his food business face a pause as he weighs the impact of increased employer national insurance contributions. I spoke with a farmer whose best hope of avoiding the Chancellor’s predatory death taxes is for his parents to live a further seven years—they are both aged over 80.

Rural Dumfries and Galloway does not want special treatment; it wants its fair share. It wants an acknowledgement that its way of life—with an emphasis on aspiration—is not wrong, though it does pose particular challenges. It wants an Agriculture Secretary who does not devolve and forget, but who sees some of Britain’s most productive grassland as a jewel in the crown and a vital part of UK food security. It wants a Government who appreciate that if someone in a town or city has £10 in their pocket, they will be able to do something with it, whereas in remote and rural Britain, that tenner probably will not get them to the farm road end.

Rural Britain is a greenhouse, bringing forth a rich harvest of food to our tables, but it could be more. It could be a powerhouse if the urban-obsessed party on the Government Benches stops treating it merely as a larder to be plundered. Bonnie Prince Charlie took those stolen shoes and trudged off to defeat. Perhaps Dumfries can seek reparations via the supine Foreign Secretary. Regardless, this Prime Minister and his Cabinet are limping towards their own electoral Culloden.