First 100 days of the Labour Government and traditional country people have never been more forgotten about - Sarah Todd

As a lighter aside, it raised a smile to read a reminiscence somewhere in the farming press about how the October half-term, which will be coming up soon, was always known as potato picking week.

Fair enough we grew up in the countryside, but it was still to be heard being called this in the 1970s and 80s of this reporter’s childhood. Getting gloomy again, the urbanisation of almost every aspect of our lives that has taken place in the intervening less than half a century is beyond belief.

Back then, most people had a grandparent or an uncle or a friend of their parents that had some connection to the countryside. They just knew instinctively about muck for roses, dogs on leads, overtaking horses wide and slow and the general courtesy of a cheery ‘hello’. Time for a chatter and plenty of personalities. Nicknames and now’thens. They knew what time of year potatoes would be fresh from the soil.

The fact that our esteemed leaders are so urban - everything about them but specifically spending such silly amounts of money on clothes and suchlike - does nothing to turn around this less than favourable first impression. As each day passes this gaping chasm in lifestyles and values can feel like it's fuelling a sense of isolation among traditional communities. So many people talking one language or believing in a way of life that is increasingly out of step with the so-called metropolitan elite our leadership is made up of.

Not noticeably mentioned once over the last 100-odd days of this new Labour leadership’s reign, traditional country people have never been more forgotten about. Just as much a rare breed as Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs.

We drove through one of the county’s prettiest villages at the weekend. It was getting dark and yet there were hardly any lights on in any of the cottages. Those that were lit up, around a village green that has featured on many a postcard, could be counted on one hand. Then the penny dropped; all the others would be holiday cottages.

Stood empty on a bit of a neither here nor there weekend in October; certainly not tattie picking holiday (when presumably they will be booked right up with families from down south on their school half-term).

There was still a pub, but it looked empty. No real conclusion to draw, but would that be because any locals left can’t afford to pay tourist prices?

Value for money is an interesting concept. With the highest taxes for decades we should certainly be getting better value for money from our new Government and local authorities.

A few weeks ago and the bin men didn’t take bottles that weren’t in the official recycling containers. A refuse reprimand. In mitigation for the quantity, it had been The Son’s 21st birthday party. Although at 5ft-nothing it had been possible for yours truly to lift them, they maybe were rather on the heavy side. More in number than some health and safety guidelines? How environmentally friendly that this householder will now probably end up driving the ten-plus mile round trip to the tip with them in her 18-year-old 4x4.

As an aside, although she only pootles about and it’s needed to tow sheep to market, she is discriminated against as a rural vehicle; with the DVLA taking something like £800 road tax a year.

Meanwhile, some urban executive clocking up tens of thousands of miles a year in a flash new car, contributing to congestion and the wear and tear of our nation’s roads, will pay nothing or absolute peanuts. Is that fair for country people who don’t drive new cars?

There was a time a team from the council would have spent summer cutting the grass verges but not anymore. The yellow poisonous peril of ragwort is left to blow in the wind. Driver visibility is also reduced. That’s not value for money. Our leaders should be told to pull it up. Bit of manual labour (pun intended) might do them good.