Listening to the rural voice

Marchers from this region joined the disaffected rural throng, carrying banners and heartfelt complaints. As with every such protest, some of the banners went a little far. One, held aloft by a couple reported to be from Ripon, declared: "Hitler 1936, Blair 2002", while another said: "New Labour, new Hitler."

Such far-fetched comparisons will hardly help what remains a cause that deserves be heard.

The reasons for the march were many and diffuse, but centred on the proposed ban on foxhunting. The hunting issue was, paradoxically, both central to it all and a distraction. It was the cause around which the march had been built, even if other, far more important, issues mattered more.

Hunting illustrates the divide between town and country, as the urban majority simply finds hunting to be abhorrent. Many of the marchers, on the other hand, passionately feel hunting to be a traditional part of their way of life.

That old argument will doubtless go on and on. It is more important now to ask what happens next.

No Government likes to see the streets of London filled with discontented protesters. Tony Blair has been known to twitch before, as during the fuel protests. He now needs to show that he is aware of the anger and alienation felt by many in the countryside, and to listen to what the protesters are saying.

Modern Britain may be a largely urban or suburban country, at least in terms of where most people live - yet without a thriving countryside, this would be far less of a country.

Many issues, including falling farm incomes, the price of fuel, spiralling rural house prices and the closure of shops, schools and post offices, are making rural people feel cut off and under siege. Not all of these can be laid directly at the door of the Government, but New Labour does need to show that it understands the countryside, and to do something that will placate the marchers.

Updated: 10:21 Monday, September 23, 2002