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A timely and critical review and analysis of the development and implementation of New Labour's rural policies since 1997.

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Perspectives on Rural Policy and Planning -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- List of Abbreviations -- 1 The Strange Awakening of Rural Britain -- 2 The Changing Balance of Local Power in the Countryside -- 3 Contemporary Rural Elites -- 4 National Politics and Rural Representation -- 5 The Countryside Alliance and Rural Protest -- 6 Agricultural Politics -- 7 Developing the Countryside -- Bibliography -- Index

A thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ; This thesis assesses the learning process of the British Expeditionary Force by its participation in The Battle of Festubert 15 – 25 May 1915.The study of this battle offers an important insight in the development of the BEF during this period, despite it being neglected in much of the historiography concerning the British Army in the First World War. It focuses on how well the BEF's First Army, commanded by General Haig, was organised and equipped upon entering the battle. It draws upon First Army's experience of two previous battles, one in March 1915 and another only six days before commencing offensive action again, to determine what knowledge had been gained and used in developing their battle tactics. Its central argument is that there was very much to learn from this previous action and great effort was made to modify the tactics at Festubert, particularly from the obvious failure on 9 May. The thesis relies on primary source material created by the units at the time, such as army and divisional records and battalion war diaries. It also examines some secondary literature and personal memoirs of key political figures and those that took part, to examine the effect of both coalition and national strategy and the pressure that placed on the shoulders of the BEF's commander Sir John French as Festubert was taking place. This thesis argues that this pressure interfered with the ability of General Haig to fully realise the lessons of combat gained at Festubert, as he was pushed soon afterwards to launch in an even larger attack in the Battle of Loos (25 September – 8 October 1915), using tactics that contradicted what had just been learnt at Festubert. It will argue that some of the contribution to the learning process by key figures, such as Sir William Robertson and Major General Richard Haking has been missed in the historiography. This thesis asserts that despite not achieving any type of significant breakthrough at Festubert, the experience served the BEF well in that it supported the French Army as it fought in the Second Battle of Artois and it trialled new methods which would be further developed as the war progressed. Unfortunately for the BEF, by the time of the next Anglo-French offensive, the Battle of the Somme, German countermeasures had largely negated some of the lessons of Festubert and this has played a part its lack of examination in modern studies of the BEF's operational development.

Abstract Politics in the countryside has undergone a significant shift in emphasis in recent decades, which may be characterized as a transition from 'rural politics' to 'a politics of the rural'. Whereas 'rural politics' refers broadly to politics located in rural space, or relating to 'rural issues', the 'politics of the rural' is defined by the centrality of the meaning and regulation of rurality itself as the primary focus of conflict and debate. However, far from marginalizing social issues – as early work on the new rural conflicts by Mormont implied – the paper argues that the new politics of the rural has liberated rural social policy from the shadow of agricultural policy, providing a new language and context through which rural social issues can be placed on the political agenda. Three examples of this are discussed, drawing on illustrations from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and North America – conflicts over the rationalization of public and commercial services in rural communities; campaigns around the closure of rural schools and their symbolic place at the heart of rural communities; and issues of difference and discrimination in the countryside, including responses to travellers and asylum‐seekers.

AbstractThe development of wind turbine power stations in rural locations has become an increasingly controversial issue with conflict revolving around representations of nature and the balance that should be struck between the preservation of a local environment and landscape, and the wider concern of tacking climate change through reducing fuel dependency. As such, conflicts over 'windfarm' development provide a rare insight into how political actors negotiate and rationalise the often closed relationship between nature, environment and rurality that lies at the core of much contemporary rural policy and planning strategy. This paper explores these themes through examination of the debate that surrounded proposals to build Europe's largest 'windfarm' at Cefn Croes in Wales. By deconstructing the rhetoric employed by both sides in the conflict, the paper demonstrates how 'nature' is constructed in different ways to allow both lobbies to claim the environmental high ground, how lay discourses are contrasted with technical discourses, and how landscape is connected to the changing rural economy.

Countryside campaigners provided some of the most vocal opposition to Labour during its first term of office, leading to widespread anticipation that Labour would suffer a 'rural backlash' in the 2001 election. This article examines the results of the general election in rural constituencies affected by four of the key issues emphasized by countryside campaigners -- hunting, agricultural recession, foot & mouth disease, & fuel prices -- & discusses the impact of any protest vote on levels of Labour support. It argues that Labour avoided the large-scale loss of its rural seats because of the relatively small number of militant rural protesters, the dissipated nature of rural issues, & a polarization of the electorate within rural areas. 9 Tables, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.