Blair strikes conciliatory tone with peace gesture to rural lobby

Tony Blair offered an olive branch yesterday to countryside campaigners, calling for "dialogue, not confrontation" to solve the problems of Britain's troubled rural areas.

He drew back from the aggressive tone of the Government's response to Sunday's huge protest by the Countryside Alliance, praising the event's organisers and insisting that ministers were addressing the needs of rural Britain. In a letter to the chairman of the Countryside Alliance, John Jackson, Mr Blair said he recognised that "this has been a difficult period for people living in rural communities".

The Prime Minister said: "We might not always agree on everything. I strongly believe that it is only through continuing dialogue, not confrontation, that we will genuinely reach a consensus about the future. This is about much more than one issue and our discussions should reflect that."

Mr Blair's comments were in sharp contrast to those of the Rural Affairs Minister, Alun Michael, who criticised the 407,000 marchers as "muddled" on Sunday and insisted that the Government would not be swayed from its stance on fox hunting.

But Mr Blair said the march "reflected a broader range of issues and views – matters which have been brought into particular focus by the impact of foot-and-mouth disease both on farming and the tourism industry in rural areas."

He insisted that many issues of concern to rural Britain were the same as the problems affecting urban areas. He said: "That is why we as a Government have developed a strategic approach to the immediate problems of the last year, as well as the longer term issues which will shape the future of farming and rural areas for decades to come."

Mr Blair added: "It is also why we have improved access to health care, invested in rural policing and increased rural transport provision.

"Of course, there is more that we can and must do. Our spending plans commit to more investment in rural areas and more support for the farming industries. It deals with the difficult challenges ahead."

Mr Jackson has been urged to join the Government's Rural Affairs Forum due to take place at Spalding, Lincolnshire, on Saturday, 9 November. In his own conciliatory letter to the rural lobby, Mr Michael gave a detailed response to the 10 demands laid out by the alliance on Sunday.

But he repeated that there would be no compromise over fox hunting. Mr Michael said: "I have always said that we are not looking for a compromise or fudge, we are looking for clear principles."