Articles tagged with: rural affairs

The Future Home Standard and growing rural housing supply

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02 Dec 2024 Energy

The Future Home Standard and growing rural housing supply

As the Labour government gets set to introduce the Future Home Standard which will see all new homes prohibited from installing fossil fuel based systems, Duncan Carter from Calor outlines how policy makers can learn from the Scottish Government and introduce a standard with the flexibility needed to support rural housing supply by allowing the use of sustainable biomass such as bioLPG.

20 Nov 2024 Environment

Labour Sticks To Its Guns On Inheritance Tax Despite Farmer Backlash

The Government is holding firm on changes to agricultural relief despite backlash from farmers facing inheritance tax for the first time.

15 Nov 2024 Environment

Labour’s Budget is the first step to ending rural health inequity

For 14 years, rural communities were failed by the Conservatives. As the MP for England’s largest rural constituency of Hexham, I have spoken to countless constituents about their frustrations about business, farming, the economy, jobs, housing and, particularly, on health.

02 Oct 2024 Energy

Tory MP Harriet Cross on how ultra marathons prepared her for Westminster

Ultramarathon runner and new MP Harriet Cross talks to Tali Fraser about how the election postponed her engagement, fighting for oil and gas jobs in her constituency, and settling into her second life. Photography by Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Labour: when will we see a timetable for change?

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24 Sep 2024 Environment

Labour: when will we see a timetable for change?

Chris Luffingham, acting Chief Executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, says the time for change is now, but asks if not now, then when?

The UK’s decarbonisation goals and the need for popular consent in policy making

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31 Aug 2023 Environment

The UK’s decarbonisation goals and the need for popular consent in policy making

Amendments to the Government’s Energy Bill, proposed by former Environment Secretary George Eustice, could help make Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) a more affordable option for decarbonising the UK's rural housing stock.

The Government must listen to councillors’ fears over the financial cost of net zero

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24 Apr 2023 Environment

The Government must listen to councillors’ fears over the financial cost of net zero

The data is clear - rural households need to be given a choice on how they decarbonise.

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20 Apr 2023 Economy

EE Brings 4G Connectivity To A Further 1,500 Rural Communities As Part Of The Shared Rural Network

The rarest of green initiatives: something that works and we know consumers will welcome

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28 Feb 2023 Environment

The rarest of green initiatives: something that works and we know consumers will welcome

2023 can be the year we get the policy foundations right to support future heat decarbonisation.

10 Feb 2023 Books & culture

A breath of fresh air: Robert Goodwill reviews 'Clarkson's Farm: Season 2'

Jeremy Clarkson continues to lay bare the tough realities of farming life – but Kaleb and Gerald are the real stars of the show

31 Jan 2023 Communities

Giving rural communities more control over local funding and decision making is key to levelling up

The British countryside has always proved a great lure to families seeking a home surrounded by green space, fresh air and a tight-knit community. Whilst all of these are key benefits of rural life, the reality is that there are far too many left behind rural and coastal communities, often overlooked by government policies.

26 Dec 2022 Environment

My New Years' Wish... To spend more time in the great outdoors

After the drama and tumult of the last 12 months, what might 2023 have in store for us? Here is Dan Jarvis’s resolution.

Decarbonisation: Right solution for the right home?

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02 Dec 2022 Environment

Decarbonisation: Right solution for the right home?

Heat pumps are a vital part of the transition to net zero, but they are not the best option for every household.

The government's strategy for rural heating: it's time to deliver on fairness

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04 Oct 2022 Environment

The government's strategy for rural heating: it's time to deliver on fairness

When the government launched the Heat and Buildings Strategy, it announced consultations on phasing out high carbon fossil fuels in homes and businesses off the gas grid. The outcome of these consultations is yet to be published and the deadlines proposed for the transition to start are getting closer. With the economic situation changing for the worse, is the delay a sign of a shift in the government’s thinking? It’s vital that it is.

Blackcurrant Affairs: Why rural MPs have been visiting growers of one of the nation’s favourite drinks

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07 Sep 2022 Communities

Blackcurrant Affairs: Why rural MPs have been visiting growers of one of the nation’s favourite drinks

Ribena is more than a much-loved blackcurrant drink. As MPs have been discovering this summer, there is a story behind the humble bottle of Ribena that is of enormous importance to Britain’s rural communities.

Delivering an affordable net zero future for rural areas

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08 Jul 2022 Environment

Delivering an affordable net zero future for rural areas

Rural MPs agree that all solutions must be on the table to help off-grid households decarbonise.

Renewable liquid fuels solve a fundamental problem for off-grid decarbonisation

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25 Feb 2022 Environment

Renewable liquid fuels solve a fundamental problem for off-grid decarbonisation

It's time to move away from a one size fits all approach when it comes to decarbonising our homes.

17 Feb 2022 Health

We need to tackle the blind-spot on mental health in rural areas

Success for a select committee is not measured in headlines alone. Committee reports are considered and answered by government, as well as extensive coverage in these pages.

Where’s the ‘fairness’ in using off-grid homes as the testing ground for heat policies?

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04 Feb 2022 Environment

Where’s the ‘fairness’ in using off-grid homes as the testing ground for heat policies?

The government may be in a hurry to decarbonise Britain's homes and businesses, but in its haste, it is leaving fairness to off-grid households to fall by the wayside.

20 Jan 2022 Environment

Is it time to ban trail and drag hunting? Lord Herbert says No

Even in these unusual times, tens of thousands of people went to see their local pack of hounds at traditional Boxing Day meets. Seventeen years on from the hunting ban, some 250 packs of foxhounds, harriers and beagles are still going strong. Today, hounds no longer pursue live quarry, but instead the trail of a scented rag.

17 Jan 2022 Environment

To win, Labour must become the party of rural Britain

We start 2022 with the country reeling from a huge surge of pandemic infection, and the government reeling from a collapse in support in its traditional rural heartlands.

17 Jan 2022 Coronavirus

Homes Under The Hammer: Inside Devon's Housing Crisis

The tranquil Devon countryside has long been a holiday maker’s dream. Yet the explosion in tourist accommodation and second homes during Covid has seen property prices skyrocket to more than 14 times the average local salary. Georgina Bailey reports.

12 Jan 2022 Communities

The post office is a crucial lifeline in rural areas – communities will suffer without subsidies

Post offices are the glue that hold local communities together and often act as an anchor for our high streets and villages.

11 Jan 2022 Environment

The Conservatives have taken rural votes for granted – now our farmers and communities are suffering

In the most difficult of times, our rural communities have shown inspiring British resilience. We should celebrate them and the very best of British farming, fisheries and produce throughout our rich supply chains.