Bluetongue outbreak in Yorkshire: a chance for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to show farmers he is on their side

Throughout their tenure as Prime Minister and as Chancellor of the Exchequer respectively, Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves were at war with the countryside.

Blow after blow rained down on farmers in particular from the predecessors of the now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey, leading to mass protests by the farming community who descended upon the nation’s capital en masse in their agricultural machinery.

Now, though, whilst the circumstances could not be more dire for farmers charged with breeding sheep, the unrelenting spread of the bluetongue virus is an opportunity for Labour 2.0, under Mr Burnham’s leadership, to begin reparations with the farming community.

At a stroke, flocks can be devastated by infection; one farmer in Truro reported the loss of 25 lambs and sheep in short order.

Since July 1, almost 500 cases have been reported. A second infection has been discovered in Yorkshire, this time in the north of the county, the first having been in the East Riding.

The stress and trauma associated with bluetongue outbreaks, as well as the financial loss to each business, is devastating. Mr Burnham must take immediate counsel from animal welfare experts to put the government on a war footing against the spread of bluetongue, a virus that is spread by midges to livestock rather than from animal to animal.

Here is an opportunity for his government to demonstrate, in clear sight, that he, at least, understands how vitally important the rural economy is to this country.