True value of buying British

Local produce – particularly that grown here in Yorkshire – is almost invariably of superior quality and carries greater assurances in terms of its provenance, the importance of which cannot be under-estimated in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.

Yet the Environment Secretary’s rallying cry will be exposed as mere hollow electioneering unless it is backed with positive action.

That is because the biggest barrier to buying home-grown fruit and vegetables boils down to two fundamental factors: cost and availability.

While a change in shopping habits will be required so that consumers are prepared to wait for fruit and vegetables to be in season to buy them, the greater onus must be on encouraging supermarkets to lend their weight to this campaign.

Champions of the rural economy such as the National Farmers’ Union have made important in-roads on this front – notably through its Back British Farming Charter which has been signed by Yorkshire-based Morrisons as well as Waitrose and The Co-operative.

Yet it is the power of consumers themselves that will ultimately dictate whether the major supermarkets fully embrace this ethos.

Given that economies of scale mean it is often cheaper for major retailers to buy mass-produced food elsewhere and then transport it to Britain, it will only be the threat of shoppers turning their backs on them that will compel supermarkets to stock home-grown produce, pay a fair price for it and, in turn, make these products affordable to customers.

The benefits for the country if this transpires are obvious, not least in terms of boosting the rural economy and helping to ensure that Yorkshire has a sustainable farming industry.

Yet this is not the only challenge facing an embattled Mr Paterson, or Yorkshire’s food producers. If the latter are to be in a position to fulfil future demand for their goods, then speedy and effective action is needed to resolve the problem of inadequate flood protection which is blighting so many rural areas at present.

Motorway move

THERE are advantages and disadvantages to the Highways Agency plan to reduce the daytime speed limit on a 32-mile stretch of the M1 through South Yorkshire to 60mph.

First, the pluses. Homes and businesses within the vicinity of the motorway in Sheffield and Rotherham suffer from unacceptable levels of pollution and the Government has a social obligation to address this.

The imposition of lower speed limits has also cut journey times on the M42 and the M25 as a result of fewer accidents taking place.

Now the drawbacks. This policy is only going to exasperate, still further, those motorists who are already extremely frustrated by the roadworks currently underway along this stretch of the road. It should also be noted that the Conservative Party actually advocated the increase of speed limits to 80mph prior to the last election.

Yet, while environmental concerns appear to be the driving factor behind this decision, it is becoming increasingly clear that road policy is being led by short-term considerations.

Lower speed limits, and a greater use of hard shoulders, will increase capacity in the short-term (to the obvious relief of the Government), but such measures will not provide a better transport infrastructure – whether 
it be road or rail – in the longer term.

The holy grail is a country which is less dependent on car travel in the future, but this is going to take an inordinate amount of time to achieve – and that is no consolation to people in South Yorkshire whose lives are being blighted by pollution levels that do not meet EU safety guidelines.

As such, the journey confronting Scarborough and Whitby MP Robert Goodwill, the Roads Minister responsible for implementing this new direction of transport policy, could not be more invidious.

Full steam ahead

TWENTY five years after the iconic Settle to Carlisle railway line, the most picturesque and atmospheric in the world, was saved from closure, the special celebrations planned for this May are testament to the vision and resilience of all those who recognised the route’s potential.

It is not just a visitor railway spanning great landmarks like the Ribblehead Viaduct, one of this county’s greatest feats of engineering. It is also used by residents of the Yorkshire Dales in increasing numbers as they look to cut the costs of car travel.

The tragedy is that the short-sightedness 50 years ago of the now infamous Beeching cuts means it is too late for those railways and stations that were axed. They have been lost forever, an irony at a time when demand for train services has never been greater.

As such, the forthcoming commemorations will be bittersweet – pride that a great Yorkshire landmark can go full steam ahead into a new era of prosperity tinged with regret that more cannot be done to ensure that new areas of population growth have adequate access to the railways.