THE next government must recognise the importance of rural businesses to the economy, business leaders have warned. With 10 months to go before the next general election, the Country Land

RURAL communities are continuing to suffer the loss of services and facilities, peers have warned.

INVESTMENT plans contained in the Queen’s Speech must also benefit the rural economy, business leaders have warned.

RURAL insurer NFU Mutual has welcomed measures in the Budget that it says will help businesses in the countryside.

CANDIDATES in this year’s European elections are being urged to champion rural issues. The Countryside Alliance said it was writing to more than 500 British candidates who hope to become

MPs have again called on the government to give rural communities a fairer deal when funding public services.

MASSIVE budget cuts threaten Defra’s ability to respond to future emergencies, MPs have warned.

CHANCELLOR George Osborne has admitted that Whitehall funding formulas give rural areas a raw deal. The way the government allocated funding had some “room for improvement,” Mr Osborne admitted. The

MORE than 25 MPs attended parliament to present petitions calling on the government to grant fairer funding for rural areas.

MORE than 100 petitions calling for fairer rural funding have been presented by MPs to the government.