Ignoring Welsh farmers’ protests is a dangerous move for politicians

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The tactics appear to have worked, with under-pressure ministers reportedly working on an update to the policy.

Metadata

Provider:

The Conversation

URL:

https://theconversation.com/ignoring-welsh-farmers-protests-is-a-dangerous-move-for-politicians-226039

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Information

Tags:

Plaid Cymru, SFS, Risk, Agriculture, Trust, Bias, Perception, Research, Policy, Politics, City, Farmer, Welsh Labour, Brexit, Conservatism, Government

Geotags:

CROATIA, FRANCE, ENGLAND, EUROPE, UK, LONDON, SPAIN, SCOTLAND, GERMANY, WALES

Summary

Key Points:

The tactics appear to have worked, with under-pressure ministers reportedly working on an update to the policy.
We find the same in our new polling about the Welsh government – something that should be considered in the debate over the SFS.

A Europe-wide divide

This is only the latest manifestation of “rural resentment” – beliefs that rural communities are economically, socially and politically marginalised.
These sentiments have been associated with support for former US president Donald Trump and radical right parties across Europe.
Political discourse in recent years has focused more on heavily Brexit-voting urban areas in the north of England.
The real divide is political, but not party political.

Anti-Labour or anti-politics?

In Wales, there are some differences but party supporters are still very happy to criticise governments run by parties they support.
The most robust association we found in the cross-country study was between the perception of bias and trust in politics.
This carries over into the Welsh study: lower trust in Welsh politics is associated with urban bias perceptions, particularly with stronger perceptions.

Risk or opportunity?

For now, Welsh Labour has a huge poll lead over its rivals, which may cushion against electoral punishment even if it ploughs ahead with the SFS.
What’s more, the risk of allowing perceptions of anti-rural bias to fester is that it brings the wider political system (including the Welsh devolved institutions) into disrepute.

Lawrence McKay receives funding from the British Academy to research urban-rural divides in Western Europe (grant number: PF22\220092)
Davide Vampa receives funding from the British Academy for the project “Exploring the Emergence of New Territorial Divides after Devolution: An Analysis of the Socio-Political Gap between Capital Cities and Peripheral Areas in Scotland and Wales” (grant number: SRG23\230264)