Top Tory in 'buy British' pledge to farmers

On a campaign visit to Yorkshire Mr Herbert told the Yorkshire Post there was no reason to delay if the Tories won power and said improvements could happen "very fast" amid frustration that the proportion of home-grown food bought by Whitehall has been falling.

He was campaigning in target seats Harrogate and Knaresborough and York Outer yesterday as David Cameron paid a surprise short visit to Halifax before heading to Manchester for last night's prime ministerial debate.

Mr Cameron revealed as he made pots of tea for parents and volunteers at the Mixenden parent resource centre that he has been so busy campaigning for the election he will not have time to buy a birthday present for his pregnant wife Samantha, campaigning with him for the first time during the campaign.

For Labour, Health Secretary Andy Burnham made his first visit of the campaign to Yorkshire to see the site of the new Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield, while Children's Secretary Ed Balls was at the National Children's Museum in Halifax.

And the Green Party, which will put up candidates in a string of seats in the region, launched its manifesto promising big rises in polluting tax, a package of green investment, scrapping tuition fees and free prescriptions.

Mr Herbert was speaking on a visit to dairy ice cream manufacturer Yorvale, near York, as he teamed up with Julian Sturdy, the Tory candidate for the new York Outer seat which forms a doughnut shape around the city. The Tories face a fierce challenge from Liberal Democrats there.

He praised the business, which makes up to 2,000 litres of ice cream a day, as a "fantastic" example of rural diversification but accused Labour of not caring about the countryside.

"Rural communities have endured over a decade of disrespect from Labour," said Mr Herbert. "They've set town against country, they don't have many rural seats and I think quite often they've been at war with rural communities."

Mr Herbert said Labour was resorting to "an old fashioned class war" by seeking to make an election issue out of the Tories' pledge to give a free vote on repealing the Hunting Act.

"I don't think there's a place for it in today's society," he said. "We've had the same position on hunting for a long time which is to allow a free vote on repeal and it will be for the future House of Commons to decide – that's a perfectly reasonable position. Most people recognise the Act is completely unworkable.

"The law is a farce, but to try to turn it into a divisive election issue is just to distract from their overall failure in the countryside."

Mr Herbert, who was a countryside campaigner before becoming an MP, insisted British farming has a good outlook and said a Tory government would be on its side.

The party has made a manifesto commitment to seek a comprehensive voluntary agreement from retailers to close down loopholes in country-of- origin labelling which allow cheap foreign imports to be passed off as high-quality British produce, with the threat of legislation if that fails.

But he said he would also take rapid action to ensure more British produce was bought by Government by writing new requirements for the quality of produce procured.

"We want to drive that policy out through the private sector to schools, hospitals, local authorities and I think there's a big opportunity because these institutions are spending a lot of public money. We can drive all of this very fast because this doesn't require legislation.

"It just requires political will, it requires a Government that cares about British farming and is willing to lead by example."

Earlier in the day, Mr Cameron and his wife – who is expecting a baby in September – sat down to paint with youngsters, with a disappointed Mr Cameron finding the blue pot already in use.

After noting there was a "Cameron" on the register, they moved on to the kitchen, where the would-be prime minister was put to work brewing up for the people he was due to meet.

It was there he broke the news to Samantha that she may end up empty-handed on Sunday when she turns 39. "I'm not going to have time to buy any presents," he quipped. "But I'll do the cooking instead – will that be all right?"

He has dubbed Mrs Cameron his "secret weapon".