Jeremy Clarkson has become the latest major name to call on Andy Burnham for a government 'rural reset'. The Clarkson's Farm, Grand Tour, and Top Gear host posted a video on his Instagram account on Monday (September 14) showing farmers tending to livestock, a beekeeper harvesting honey, and jockeys racing horses in 10 Downing Street as nature reclaims the Prime Minister's home.
Campaign video targets government policies
The video has been produced by the Countryside Alliance as part of a new campaign calling on the Prime Minister to 'reset' the government's approach to rural Britain. The organisation believes Labour has introduced or proposed 27 policies that have been damaging to rural communities.
They include the decision to introduce inheritance tax on farms as well as the rise in national insurance hitting businesses such as pubs, affordability checks on horse racing, and plans to ban trail hunting and restrict game shooting.
Allies join the campaign
Clarkson, who runs the Diddly Squat Farm near his home in Oxfordshire, appears to have joined the campaign backed by Chipping Norton neighbour Lord David Cameron. The former Prime Minister called for "unity" among people working in different countryside sectors when it comes to dealing with the new government under Andy Burnham, who has pledged to deliver growth in every postcode.
"It's really important that we don't take these little side issues and get picked off one by one," Lord Cameron said at a campaign event. "I don't care if you don't go hunting. The ban against trail hunting is your fight.
"You don't have to be a farmer to care about farm tax. Fighting against that is your fight. I don't care if you're a pub owner or you don't set foot inside a pub. Saving rural pubs is your fight."
He was joined by former Labour home secretary Lord David Blunkett, who added: "Urban and rural are one of the same. We need each other, we share. We understand, if we're sensible, just how the two go together."
Poll reveals rural opinion
A poll of 2,000 adults, funded by the Countryside Alliance, found that only 15 percent of respondents living in rural communities agree that Labour cares about people who live and work in the countryside.
However, more than a quarter of rural residents said they would be more likely to vote Labour if the party resets its relationship with those communities, while 24 percent of all voters said the same.
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: "These findings are powerful because they show not only how crucial it is for the Government to undo the mistakes of the past, but also the opportunity which a rural reset could bring."
