Crime in the country DOES count!

Written by David Heath MP and published in Somerset Standard on Fri 22nd Jan 2010

Despite the bad weather a couple of weeks, there was a good turnout for a meeting with local farmers I had in Beckington village hall. They were concerned about the levels of crime they are experiencing on their farms, and they wanted to impress on me, and on the local police, that it wasn't something they were prepared to simply put up with.

And of course they are right. The worst is the theft of major plant items, farm machinery and the like. Then there is theft of red diesel, either from vehicles or storage tanks. Criminal damage is frequent, as is, sadly, fly-tipping, which by a ridiculous stipulation in the current law becomes the responsibility of the land-owner. And of course there is trespass. A lot of people think they have the right to wander at will, or "exercise" their dogs on farmland. They don't.

Rural crime is hard to prevent. But people in rural areas have as much right to protection under the law as anyone else. If there is a pattern of farm thefts, they must be investigated, and if stolen property ends up in the same place, there must be no "no-go" areas for the police. I'm taking the farmers' concerns to senior levels, not because I have no confidence in local officers, but because I want them to have the support they need. Just because a crime's in the country, it doesn't mean it doesn't count.