Peter Ainsworth MP was delighted to welcome10-year-old Mikey Aungier from Tandridge in Surrey to Parliament this week in recognition of his selection as one of ten ‘rural heroes’ chosen by the Countryside Alliance.
Mikey, who turned ten earlier this month, met his local MP and Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Peter Ainsworth, and was treated to a special tour around the Palace of Westminster. He was then taken to a special birthday lunch by the Countryside Alliance.
Mikey, who attends St Mary’s Junior School in Oxted and the youngest of the ten rural heroes, was chosen for his dedication to the countryside and for continuously championing every aspect of rural life. He is particularly fascinated with farming and enjoys forming part of the beating line at his local shoot which he attends every week whatever the weather.
Mikey explained:
‘I marched for the countryside in 2002 with everyone in my family. It was quite a long way but it is important for everyone to know that the countryside is where I am growing up and what I want to protect’.
Mr Ainsworth was full of praise for the young hero saying:
‘I spend a great deal of my time in Parliament raising rural issues such as falling farm incomes and the lack of access to essential services, so it is wonderful to meet a young person who is so thoroughly devoted to country life. Mikey is a great example of why it is so very important to preserve a living, working countryside. I wish him the very best for the future and urge him to keep up the good work in championing his way of life with his classmates and others.”
Michelle Nudds, Countryside Alliance Regional Director for the South East, commented:
“Mikey is a great example of tenacity, because it is clear that rural life has survived Blair’s decade despite the Government, not because of it. There is a feeling that rural issues were never high on the agenda in “Cool Britannia”, and that to a very urban Government the countryside was “another country” to be used rather than lived in.
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