The Yorkshire Post says: Speaking up for the countryside. Gove and Clark must now deliver

THIS NEWSPAPER has been the first to criticise Ministers from successive governments for paying lip service to the specific needs of farmers and rural communities across the land. Not only do London-based politicians under-value the countryside but they also fail to recognise the opportunities for growth that do still exist.

Michael Gove and Greg Clark have come out fighting for rural Britain.

That said, it would be disingenuous of The Yorkshire Post not to acknowledge the substance and significance of the contributions that Business Secretary Greg Clark and Environment Secretary Michael Gove made to this week’s groundbreaking NFU conference that saw Minette Batters become the union’s first ever female president.

After Mr Gove made the very reasonable point that rural broadband is just as critical as HS2, if not more so, Mr Clark – who was born in Middlesbrough – spoke with passion about this region’s agri-food sector which generates more than £2.5bn each year and employs 23,000 people.

Both politicians appear, to their credit, to understand the importance of agriculture, food production and the rural economy, and both have a vital role to play as Britain prepares to leave the European Union and, in time, the Common Agricultural Policy when  a new subsidy system is  put in place.

Yet, while both were on opposing sides of the political argument in the Brexit referendum, this shouldn’t stop them from working together and ensuring that Britain’s future farming policy supports this sector while encouraging the creation of new job opportunities in the country’s rural heartlands.

They could be a formidable alliance – especially if they’re then able to persuade their Cabinet colleagues that rural Britain can make an even greater contribution to the wealth of the nation if it has the right infrastructure in place and if there is wider recognition that its policy needs are very different to those of urban areas.