Jake Swindells - Scottish Countryside Alliance

ICYMI - @NatureScot is carrying out a review of Hunting with Dogs licensing. They have launched a consultation for stakeholders to comment on the licensing process ➡️ hwdlicensingreview.commonplace.is Read our submitted response below ⬇️ countryside-alliance.org/news-content-t…

I joined @GBNewsOnline yesterday morning to highlight how managing fuel load via muirburn is a powerful land management strategy that helps to prevent the wildfires which are currently raging across the countryside. Watch now ⬇️ youtube.com/watch?v=SMjqE8…

Relive the Scottish Game Fair 2026, with footage from the weekend at Scone Palace, and interviews by SCA director Jake Swindells with key partners and figures at the event. Watch part 1 now ⬇️ youtube.com/watch?v=_yay_k… @murdo_fraser @fieldsportstv

Thanks to the determination and resilience of the local community, good progress is being made in tackling the Cairngorms wildfire. Dedicated volunteers and emergency services have been working tirelessly in the face of unpredictable conditions⬇️ countryside-alliance.org/news-content-t…

Andy Burnham must be more supportive of rural life than his predecessor, argues Johnnie Furse thecritic.co.uk/why-labour-nee…

“Natural England, the Environment Agency and others perform vital functions, but they exist to deliver the will of Parliament, not to pursue agendas of their own” writes @CA_TimB following @BASCnews significant victory in the High Court last week⬇️ thecritic.co.uk/not-so-natural…

If you love our Scottish landscapes as much as we do, please consider signing the Charter for the Open Hill. For more information on this, please visit the webpage - hill-charter.scot or contact admin@hill-charter.scot

NatureScot is carrying out a review of Hunting with Dogs licensing. They have launched a consultation so that stakeholders can comment on the licensing process ➡️ hwdlicensingreview.commonplace.is We submitted our response on 23 July, which you can read below ⬇️ countryside-alliance.org/news-content-t…

A pleasure to be here at the Game Fair 2026. Come over, say hello and find out more about our work on the front line defending the rural way of life. We are at stand E932, next to the Carter Jonas theatre (look for their blimp). See you soon!

Let’s hope Andy Burnham resets the government’s relationship with rural people! Out and about in Peterborough and the surrounding villages today. Honk honk.

“Yesterday, Mr Burnham made a pointed reference to “wrong turns” implemented in the 1980s. He blamed these policies as being central to many of the problems Britons experience today. To many in the countryside, including an entire generation of young farmers, however, the effects of “wrong turns” are being felt from policies enacted far more recently than 40 years ago”… “With near-on daily dramatic events in the theatre of politics it is easy to forget one political fallout from the next. Be in no doubt, however, that the pain felt by the Family Farm Tax is very much alive across the countryside… “The countryside wants to play its part in building a “national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity”. But if "change" turns out to be nothing more than a repeat of past mistakes, rural people will feel sidelined, let down and hurt. Hope cannot be confined solely to the towns and cities. Mr Burnham must bring rural people on that journey too.   “We all wish the Prime Minister and his team well in that endeavour. Let’s have no more “wrong turns”. Read my full piece for the @Daily_Express below⬇️

New billboard just dropped @andyburnham

Very impressive work from @CAupdates - right off the bat they're appealing to Andy Burnham to listen to rural communities.

A pivotal moment indeed.

Angela Eagle becomes DEFRA Secretary at a pivotal moment, with relations between the government and countryside undeniably strained. We wish her well. The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, pledged to “change politics”...1/2⬇️

The Countryside Alliance have been campaigning for strengthened rural proofing for years, and we welcome the government's recognition of this issue. But rural communities have heard similar promises before. This report must be judged not by its ambitions, but by its results.

We welcome Mr Burnham as our new Prime Minister, and encourage him to use this opportunity to reset relations with the countryside and end the toxic culture war on rural communities. We will be keeping you up to date with the latest Defra appointments as and when they happen.

Interesting timing. A long standing @caupdates call. We have specifically called for a ‘reset’. Someone obviously watching… Rural impact assessments must be more than lip service though. Needs strong rural voice around cabinet table, reminding PM Lab has over 100 rural seats.

The countryside is (currently) a significant voting bloc for Labour, 100+ MPs. Bizarre they’d leave that flank completely undefended, as they have until now. Will team Burnham attempt to correct that? It’ll take far more than box ticking, but a huge cultural change in Number 10.