Is Ukip the only party that cares about the British countryside? | Simon Jenkins

Using brownfield sites for new homes and offices shouldnt be a question of left or right: our rural environment must be preserved

For the first time in history more people live in towns than in the country. In Britain this has had a curious result. While polls show Britons rate the countryside alongside the royal family, Shakespeare and the NHS as what makes them proudest of their country, this has limited political traction.

A century ago Octavia Hill launched the National Trust not to rescue...