Skip to content

All the news that matters, in plain English.

Latest
  1. Defending champion Luke Littler stunned by Luke Woodhouse in World Grand Prix opener
  2. Tata Trusts propose merging two firms into Tata Sons to shed NBFC tag and stay private
  3. Trump denies ever discussing US weapons sales to China, contradicting his own ambassador
  4. Hurricane Polo re-strengthens to Category 5, forecast to make landfall in Baja California Sur on Monday
  5. India delivers right of reply to Shehbaz Sharif's UNGA speech — warns "terrorism by Pakistan will have consequences"
  6. Liverpool reappoint Julian Ward as sporting director after Hughes exits for Al-Hilal
  7. Magnitude 6.6 earthquake strikes Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia; no tsunami threat
  8. NYPD arrests two men seen emerging from New York City manhole near Upper East Side hotel

UK Broadband

Labour minister's 'far-right fantasy' jibe at rural Britain sparks apology row

Nature Minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter told a Labour conference fringe meeting that 'warm ale, a black Labrador by your feet in a pub that doesn't exist' is a 'far-right nostalgic vision of Britain' that 'never really existed', prompting demands for an apology.

By Tom Ellery · · 1 min read

Nature Minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter has sparked a row after telling a Labour Party conference fringe meeting in Liverpool that the nostalgic image of rural Britain built around “warm ale and a black labrador by your feet” is a “far-right fantasy” that “never really existed”.

The Suffolk Coastal MP said on Monday that she was kept “awake at night” by fears the next general election would be fought on “a battle line of nature and rural affairs”, with the far right “deciding and determining what that looks like”. She said Labour would fight for a “progressive vision for the countryside” to counter it.

Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake demanded that Prime Minister Andy Burnham make the minister apologise, accusing Labour of believing “the countryside, the pub, the dog and the people who love them are far right”. He claimed Labour was “taxing the pub out of existence, as part of a sustained attack on the countryside, with almost two closing every day”.

Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell distanced herself from the remarks today, telling GB News she was “a big fan of country, rural pubs” and that “the pub is often the heart of those communities”.

Sources

More on this topic: all UK Broadband stories

Get Flip News by email

This opens your email app — we add you manually. No account, no spam, no third parties.