Tim Bonner 🇺🇦

Countryside Alliance @CAupdates Chief Exec also fish, ducks, cricket, hounds, dogs & other country stuff tim-bonner(at)

[Tim Bonner 🇺🇦 @CA_TimB]

My comment piece in @thetimes ‘Labour is losing the countryside all over again’

https://t.co/To4PYYes5S

[FarmingUK @FarmingUK]

💥Rural campaigners are urging Andy Burnham to reset government’s relationship with farmers and the countryside

The Countryside Alliance has written to the PM calling for a “rural reset”

READ MORE: https://t.co/HMLE9NL0en

[GB News @GBNEWS]

'There's a real sense in the countryside that you can't be listening to everybody if you're going to ignore 11 million people that call it a place of work and home.'

Mo Metcalf-Fisher from The Countryside Alliance on Andy Burnham's approach to farmers.

[Mo Metcalf-Fisher @mometfisher]

What a huge week we’ve had. Bringing together voices from across the countryside to say enough is enough: it’s time for a rural reset. Will Andy Burnham and the government listen?

For the past two years, the rural way of life has been under attack, from the family farm tax and National Insurance rises, to affordability checks on horse racing, plans to ban trail hunting and restrict game shooting.

All of these measures could be avoided or changed, if only their impact on the countryside was understood.

What’s needed now is a government willing to work with the countryside - not against it.

[Countryside Alliance @CAupdates]

🚨‘Family farm tax was flawed, former Labour minister admits’.

Daniel Zeichner’s comments come on the week of the launch of our Campaign for the Countryside at which Lord Blunkett called the inheritance tax on farms a “mistake”. https://t.co/XkPidFv2PQ

[Countryside Alliance @CAupdates]

We're continuing party conference season with the Liberal Democrat Conference, which we'll be at on Monday. If you're there - please come along!

[Tim Bonner 🇺🇦 @CA_TimB]

@guyadams @christopherhope A lot unsaid too. He was being wheeled out to support the animal rights agenda in later years and it looked like a hostage situation.

[Tim Bonner 🇺🇦 @CA_TimB]

Nearly two weeks with no down escalator at Tottenham Hale due to an ‘electrical fault’ @TfL Huge queues and all the urgency of a constipated snail.

[Nick Luck @nickluck]

“No winds are blowing in our favour”

Sir Mark Prescott says racing is being squeezed by taxation, betting restrictions and legislation, despite its importance to rural communities and its role as a major employer of young people.

https://t.co/FerIeJpSDv

[ClarksonsFarm @ClarksonsFarm1]

It’s time for a rural reset. Join the 'Campaign for the countryside' at Countryside Alliance!

Following recent changes to the UK Government’s ministerial team, we hope to see stronger support for the agricultural sector and ALL small businesses.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

🇬🇧

[Racing Post @RacingPost]

A leading British countryside figure has slammed the damage "hapless" government betting policies have already had on horseracing and fears a mix of them and animal rights extremists could leave the sport in grave danger

🔗 https://t.co/LQ8V7PzR9x

[Mo Metcalf-Fisher @mometfisher]

Great @yorkshirepost front page today.

It’s time for a rural reset.

Find out more and send a message today➡️ https://t.co/YWOIv3yLag

[BBC Politics @BBCPolitics]

An inheritance tax for farms was "a mistake", Lord Blunkett says

https://t.co/mRwf7CNcOl

[The Spectator @spectator]

Rural Britons must revive the spirit of the Liberty and Livelihood march to fight back against Labour's war on the countryside, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton declared today.

The former prime minister joined forces with Lord Blunkett to urge Andy Burnham to reset relations with rural communities, which have been hit by no fewer than 27 damaging policies since the 2024 general election.

At a rally hosted by the Countryside Alliance, Lord Cameron issued a call to arms amid warnings that urban-centred Labour has forgotten 'the importance and significance of rural Britain'.

✍️ Noa Hoffman

Article | https://t.co/Qhq1RetxUa | @hoffman_noa

[FarmingUK @FarmingUK]

💥 Lord Blunkett has urged the Labour government to learn from the “mistakes” of its family farm tax as pressure grows for a wider reset of government policy towards rural Britain

READ MORE: https://t.co/sF5ig0W0I0

[David Cameron @David_Cameron]

At this time when our rural communities feel under attack by a raft of ill-thought through & damaging government policies, I was delighted to support today's Campaign for the Countryside, organised by the @CAupdates, pushing for a much-needed #RuralReset. https://t.co/ICm20LIUkz

[Farmer Tom 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 @Farmer_Tom_UK]

Joining others from across the rural spectrum to remind the prime minister that 1 in 4 postcodes are rural ones, and that if he wants ‘growth in every postcode’, he needs to think rural. I like the #CampaignfortheCountryside as it’s apolitical, it’s broad, and it’s optimistic.

https://t.co/xbjfQLSVuZ

[Tim Bonner 🇺🇦 @CA_TimB]

Talking to @nickluck about why racing is joining a countryside coalition calling for a rural reset. Andy Burnham has an opportunity to address Labour’s relationship with the countryside. Will he take it?

[Nick Luck @nickluck]

🆕

🏇 @JosephOBrien2 - Highwayman, Saffie Osborne & Irish Champions Wkd
🏇 @CA_TimB - Westminster event
🏇 Sally Jameson MP - Racing / betting
🏇 @K_scottracing - Naana's Shadow 🏆🇫🇷
🏇 @AntoinDeLeis - @keeneland
🏇 Adam Mills - St Leger @TPDZone

Insight: @thebedfordfox

https://t.co/DZDImopon1

[Countryside Alliance @CAupdates]

Today's papers saying what we all know: it's time for a rural reset.

[Tim Bonner 🇺🇦 @CA_TimB]

A big day for the countryside. Will Andy Burnham change tack on rural issues after 2 years of Starmer’s administration and 27 policies effecting everyone from the farming to horse racing, game shooting and trail hunting? It’s time for a rural reset.

[Countryside Alliance Press Office @CApressoffice]

🚨Countryside Calling!

Find out more ➡️ https://t.co/EgtlGWQvOm

[Mo Metcalf-Fisher @mometfisher]

🚨🗞️In the papers (Mail, Times, Express, Sun and Telegraph): It’s time for a rural reset! New polling out today ahead of the launch of Campaign for the Countryside, Speakers include Former Prime Minister David Cameron (Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton), former NFU President and crossbench peer Minette Batters (Baroness Batters) and former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett (Lord Blunkett).

New polling has exposed the scale of Andy Burnham’s challenge in winning over the countryside, with just 15% of those living in rural communities agreeing that the Labour party cares about the people that live and work there.

But the findings also point to a clear opportunity for the government. Over a quarter (28%) of rural residents said they would be more likely to vote Labour if the party resets its relationship with those communities. This was particularly true for voters in Wales and Scotland. Nationally, 24% of all voters said the same.

Across Great Britain as a whole, nearly twice as many people believe that the government does not care about countryside people - 22% agree that they do, while 38% disagree. A majority of all those surveyed (55%) agreed that the government favours cities over the countryside. Only one in ten (11%) disagreed with this statement.

The national survey of 2,081 adults by ORB International for the Countryside Alliance reveals that nearly half (43%) of those living in rural areas now feel the government has “waged war on the countryside”.

Analysis from the rural campaigning organisation has revealed 27 damaging policies have been imposed on rural communities since 2024 — from the family farm tax and National Insurance rises, to affordability checks on horse racing, plans to ban trail hunting and restrict game shooting.

When asked to rank the issues that will drive their vote at the next election, the public placed the cost of living, NHS and immigration at the top. ‘Banning trail hunting and shooting’ were ranked as of least importance from the list of ten issues facing the electorate at the next election.

The fresh insights come ahead of the launch of the Countryside Alliance’s ‘Campaign For The Countryside’, at an event in Westminster tomorrow (Monday 14 September).

Leaders of the most affected rural policies will be meeting to urge Andy Burnham to reset the government’s relationship with the countryside, with representatives from farming, shooting, racing and trail hunting in attendance.