The Guardian view on Labour's countryside dilemma: to be green or not to be green | Editorial

The opposition has some noble aims on the environment. It must not abandon them in pursuit of rural votesThe Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn has rightfully much to boast about when it comes to green policies. The party says it will ban fracking, spend ?2bn a year to insulate homes and build a net zero-emission economy by 2050. Meeting such targets will need politicians to fend off vested interests and their special pleading. Big reforms are easily scuppered by entrenched industries. So it is strange that when plans to change the face of rural Britain in a positive way come before MPs, Labour's environment team, headed by Sue Hayman, has been accused of trying to wreck them with arguments that put the party on the side of the status quo.The allegation came as Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is taking the first agriculture bill for seven decades through parliament. It aims to replace the harmful and unfair EU common agricultural policy, which is based on the majority of the direct EU support payments going to farmers for acres owned. "The more you have, the more you get" mentality created a perverse incentive to clear wildlife habitats, even in places unsuitable for farming, to attract cash. Rich landowners were rewarded for their holdings' size rather than for restoring peat bogs and hedgerows. Mr Gove rightly wants to move to a system that links a much bigger slice of payments directly to farmers' delivery of "public goods", notably "environmental protection and enhancement". As a leaver, he sells Brexit as an opportunity and takes up the cause of campaigners who argue the current model of farming has been behind the collapsing bird and insect numbers in the countryside and is why our rivers are so mucky. It is good Mr Gove recognises the importance of ecosystems for farming. The bill is imperfect and Mr Gove himself is often heavy on style and light on substance, but the direction of travel ought to be welcomed. Continue reading...