Labour’s latest cash grab is hitting rural Britain where it hurts—gutting services, hiking council tax, and funnelling money straight into their urban strongholds.

CP

Councils across England’s countryside say they are being forced to slash vital services like adult social care, school transport, and libraries, while simultaneously jacking up council tax to the legal limit.

And why? Because the government’s latest funding stitch-up is deliberately starving the shires in favour of towns and cities in the North and Midlands.

Figures from the County Councils Network (CCN) reveal the shocking scale of Labour’s attack on rural areas. More than 85% of county and rural councils say they are now worse off following the Autumn Budget and Local Government Finance Settlement—despite government spin about a “significant real-terms funding increase.” The reality? A staggering 97% of Labour’s new £600m Recovery Grant is being funnelled into urban councils—with rural areas left to fight for scraps.

COUNCIL TAX UP, SERVICES DOWN

Labour’s war on the countryside means nine in ten county councils now say they will have to raise council tax by the maximum 4.99%—but even that won’t plug the funding black hole. The consequences for rural communities are devastating:

• One in three (31%) councils say their cuts will be severe—including making more staff redundant and slashing essential services.
• Over half (51%) say adult social care services will be cut—meaning care homes, home support, and voluntary groups will be left high and dry.
• Half (50%) say eligibility for school transport and adult social care will be slashed, forcing struggling families to fend for themselves.
• Four in ten (42%) councils will turn off more streetlights to cut costs, while 45% will scale back climate change initiatives.
• Over a third (35%) will be forced to shut libraries or reduce their opening hours, hitting rural families and the elderly hardest.

To make matters worse, Labour has quietly scrapped the £100m Rural Services Delivery Grant, which was designed to help cover the higher costs of delivering services in rural areas. This deliberate cash raid means county and rural councils are left with just 3% of the new Recovery Grant, despite shouldering massive financial pressures.

NO TRANSPARENCY, NO ACCOUNTABILITY

The CCN is now demanding answers from Labour ministers, accusing them of “cherry-picking” councils for funding without publishing a shred of evidence to back it up. Despite claiming their funding formula accounts for deprivation, the government has not released any data to justify why urban areas are getting nearly all the cash while rural councils are left in the cold.

And there’s more to come. Labour has launched a Fair Funding Review, set to decide how government money is distributed to councils permanently. If this latest round of funding discrimination is anything to go by, it’s rural Britain that will be paying the price for years to come.

THE FUTURE LOOKS BLEAK

As councils scramble to balance their books, the CCN survey reveals a chilling outlook:

• 75% of councils say they’ll scrape by next year, but only by cutting services or raiding reserves.
• By 2029/30, just one council in England is confident of setting a balanced budget.
• 60% say they’ll be in deep financial trouble before the next election.

The message from rural leaders is clear: Labour’s funding betrayal is driving counties towards bankruptcy, with devastating consequences for millions of people.

‘THIS SHOULD BE AN ALARM CALL TO THE GOVERNMENT’

Cllr Barry Lewis, Finance Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, didn’t mince his words:

“The government is cherry-picking what areas to focus funding on. It is clear now that the vast majority of county and unitary councils are in a worse position than before the Autumn Budget and finance settlement.

Virtually all county and unitary councils will have to raise their council tax by the maximum permitted, but even this will not be enough. Many are now more likely to have to set out further reductions in adult social care, school transport, libraries and more.

A further reduction will have a material impact on our residents.

Therefore, the government must rethink its proposals and ensure that all parts of the country facing significant financial challenges receive a fair share of resources, rather than selecting a handful of councils to benefit.”

With Labour’s new funding regime bleeding rural communities dry, county leaders are demanding transparency, fairness, and an end to the deliberate financial assault on the countryside.

Labour promised to “level up” Britain. Instead, they’re robbing the shires to bankroll their city cronies.

Read more at www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk

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Main Image: For illustration purposes only. Image created with Grok.

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This article (LABOUR’S WAR ON THE COUNTRYSIDE: RURAL BRITAIN SHAFTED IN COUNCIL FUNDING STITCH-UP) was created and published by Conservative Post and is republished here under “Fair Use” with attribution to the author CP

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RELATED

Hands Off Our Green and Pleasant Land Starmer! Labour’s Land Grab is an Attack on British Food Security

Swathes of the countryside are on course to be switched to solar farms under Labour. Image: For illustration purposed only. Image created by Grok.

CP

Under the guise of net zero targets and biodiversity dreams, Labour is now eyeing up more than 10% of England’s farmland for solar panels and “habitat restoration.”

Yes, you read that right. At a time when food security is becoming more crucial than ever, Labour’s grand plan is to slash agricultural land by 760,000 hectares—that’s an area twice the size of Greater London—and hand it over to the eco-lobby.

And if farmers are worried that this is only the beginning of an ever-tightening grip on their land, well—they’re absolutely right to be.

Net Zero vs. Food on the Table

Now, of course, no one is opposed to sensible environmental policies. But food production is not some trivial, optional extra. You cannot eat solar panels. But Labour seems hell-bent on prioritising “green” targets over keeping Britain fed. Just look at the numbers as reported in the Telegraph:

• 9% of farmland gone—that’s what the Government admits to, but we all know how these things creep up.
• A further 5% lost due to lower food production.
• Another 4% covered in trees—so, in total, nearly one-fifth of England’s farmland compromised.

And for what? A bureaucratic fantasyland where Britain somehow remains food-secure while its fields are covered in solar panels.

As Dame Andrea Jenkyns says:

“THIS NET ZERO MADNESS WILL JEOPARDISE FOOD SECURITY AND DECIMATE OUR COUNTRYSIDE.”

The Farming Industry is Already on Its Knees

Let us not forget that British farmers are already facing a terrible storm of challenges. As NFU President Tom Bradshaw put it, the past few months have been a battering for the industry.

“VOLATILE INPUT COSTS, COMMODITY PRICES ON THE FLOOR IN SOME SECTORS, A REDUCTION IN DIRECT PAYMENTS, ONE OF THE WETTEST PERIODS IN DECADES, AND A BRUTAL BUDGET DELIVERED BY THIS GOVERNMENT.”

And yet, instead of offering support to Britain’s struggling food producers, Labour’s response is to take their land, pile on red tape, and hand over chunks of the countryside to unelected eco-bureaucrats.

The Real Danger—Labour’s Creeping Control Over Land

In a speech today Environment Secretary Steve Reed will apparently assure us that this grand scheme “will not tell people what to do”. It’s simply a matter of “pooling knowledge and resources” so that landowners can make “better decisions”.

Come off it. We all know how this story goes. As Victoria Vyvyan, President of the Country Land and Business Association, rightly put it:

“WHENEVER THE STATE GETS INVOLVED, ITS TENDENCY IS TO ONLY BECOME EVER MORE PRESCRIPTIVE.”

Translation: Once the government has its foot in the door, it won’t be long before the “man from the ministry” is telling farmers exactly what they can and cannot grow, plant, and rear.

And this is not speculation—it’s already happening. Look at Dartmoor, where government-backed conservationists are already pushing to reduce sheep farming in the name of rewilding. Look at how farmland is being quietly bought up by rewilding charities across the country.

It starts with “incentives,” then becomes expectation, then regulation, then enforcement.

Who Actually Benefits?

Let’s not be naive about who wins in this madcap land grab.

• The environmental lobby—who have never run a farm in their lives but will now wield even more influence over land policy.
• Developers—who will get their hands on even more land for housing estates (because, of course, that’s another government priority).
• The energy industry—who will slap acres of solar panels across prime agricultural land while ordinary Brits are still told to ration their electricity.

And who loses? The British farmer. The British consumer. The British countryside.

A Warning to Labour—Hands Off Our Farms

This is not just a bad policy. This is a catastrophic policy, one that threatens food security, tramples on landowners’ rights, and puts eco-theory above economic reality.

Britain cannot afford to lose a single acre of productive farmland. If Labour truly cared about balancing nature, net zero, and food production, they would focus on:

• Supporting British farmers, not squeezing them out.
• Boosting agricultural innovation, rather than slapping down new restrictions.
• Investing in precision farming, rather than ripping up fields for forests.

But no—their instinct is always more centralisation, more government control, more top-down diktats from people who wouldn’t know a combine harvester from a hedge trimmer.

So let me say it plainly: hands off our farms, Labour. If you think the British public will stand idly by while you hand their food production over to clipboard-wielding bureaucrats and eco-campaigners, think again.

We’ve had enough of experts who put targets ahead of common sense. Britain’s farmers have kept this country fed for centuries—they don’t need Labour’s interference telling them how to do their jobs.

The countryside is not yours to carve up, Labour. The people of this country will not stand for it.

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