29 March 2007.

LABOUR DOUBLES FUNDS FOR GREEN FARMING & RURAL JOBS

Stafford’s Labour MP David Kidney is pleased that Environment Secretary David Miliband is today announcing plans to spend £3.9 billion on environmentally friendly farming and forestry and enhancing employment opportunities in rural England.

David Kidney explains:

“The money will be spent over the next seven years through the Government’s Rural Development Programme for England, which is co-funded by the European Union. The budget is more than double the amount for the previous seven years 2000 – 2006.

“Most of the money is earmarked for environmental stewardship schemes. A further £600 million will be allocated to schemes to make agriculture and forestry more competitive and to build up job opportunities in rural areas.

“This is a good announcement for farming and the countryside in Stafford and throughout rural England. It is a success for our Labour Government whereas Conservative MEPs had voted against the new regulation. The blockage that the Conservatives helped create was only lifted last week. Without the new regulation, spending on environmental stewardship and other rural development schemes would have been slashed by £1.4 billion.

“The Tories may talk green, but their MEPs voted against the regulation in the European Parliament, putting at risk English spending on environmental stewardship”.

Environment Secretary David Miliband, explaining the settlement says:

“We want to see a thriving farming sector and thriving rural communities. Our new rural development programme is designed to help farming make a positive environmental contribution and to enhance rural employment opportunities. Farmers will get more money in return for doing more to protect wildlife and the countryside”.