Taking rural issues to candidates in the EU

The Countryside Alliance has written to the 500+ British candidates ahead of the 22nd May European Elections, asking them to champion four key rural issues. The Alliance's EU Manifesto identifies the four issues that we are most concerned about - animal welfare and management; firearms and shooting; digital communications, including mobile and fixed broadband and mobile phone signal and the importance of country of origin food labelling.

Countryside Alliance head of policy, Sarah Lee said: "We want to ensure that prospective MEPs are aware of the vitally important issues facing rural communities across Europe and that they campaign to ensure that British farmers, communities and consumers are at the heart of what they do in parliament.

"For too long European policy has focussed on doing something to the countryside rather than for the countryside. We believe rural communities need fairer representation in Brussels."

For a hard copy of the manifesto please email [email protected]