General Election 2010: Conservation is key, says Conservative manifesto

Promoting sustainable farming while protecting the environment and restoring habitats will be priorities for the Conservatives should David Cameron become Prime Minister in next month’s general election.

Setting out its official manifesto on Tuesday (13 April), the Tory party said conserving ecosystems and halting biodiversity loss would be key issues in its plans for the UK’s countryside.

It said it would produce a White Paper on protecting the environment which would look at ways to use natural resources more responsibly.

It would also encourage sustainable and productive farming by creating a more effective system of environmental stewardship and preventing development on the most fertile land.

Addressing the issue of genetically-modified crops, the manifesto states the party would not allow commercial planting of GM crops “until and unless it has been assessed as safe for people and the environment”.

It also says it would negotiate further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to ensure it provided better value for money while supported farmers.

“The new CAP should reflect the importance we attach to the environment, to ensuring food security and to tackling global poverty,” the manifesto says.

The party will also push to abolish “market-disorientating subsidies at a pace that allows time for British farmers and producers in developing countries to adapt”.

The manifesto adds that the party will minimise and reform on-farm inspections, as well as abolish the Agricultural Wages Board.

In a clear swipe at Labour’s anti-badger cull stance, the party said it would introduce a “carefully-managed and science-led policy of badger control” in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine TB.

It said it would also increase government procurement of British food where costs allowed, create legislation to ensure honest food labelling if necessary and introduce a supermarket ombudsman.

• What are the big issues for you as a rural voter? Tell us on our forums.

• Which words feature most in the Conservative’s green manifesto? Farmers Weekly put the party’s food, farming, countryside and environment policies through a programme called Wordle, which picked out the top 20 words used in the manifesto: