LOWLY-paid farm workers are today promised help in improving their skills and working conditions, in Labour’s ‘rural manifesto’.

The Opposition promised an industry-led agricultural taskforce, to drive forward improvements on “productivity and pay, skills and apprenticeships”.

However, Labour would not restore the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) - a ‘wage council’ for staff working on the land – which was abolished two years ago.

Labour fiercely criticised the axing of the AWB, which had protected farm workers from exploitation since 1948 and was the last surviving wages council.

And, back in 2013, it seized on official predictions that £235.7m would be transferred from workers to farm owners, over ten years, as a result.

Across Hampshire, about 3,000 workers were covered by the AWB, according to figures at the time, including in the constituencies of Romsey and Southampton North (463), New Forest West (462), New Forest East (519) and the Isle Of Wight (1,009).

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Maria Eagle, Labour’s environment, food and rural affairs spokeswoman, said she did not believe it was right to restore a “1948-type” body.

Instead, she said: “The Agricultural Wages Board was valuable because it looked more broadly than the minimum wage – it also looked at terms and conditions and at skills and training.

“This would be a more modern approach that would bind employers and employees and would avoid a race to the bottom in the sector.”

The rural manifesto also promises:

  • More affordable homes in rural areas, by strengthening requirements on developers.
  • Regulation of “off-grid” energy supplies, after criticism of soaring prices.
  • A new supermarket watchdog by expanding the role and powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
  • To ensure all parts of the country benefit from affordable, high-speed broadband by 2020.

Ms Eagle added: “Wages are over £4,500 lower than those in urban areas, while at the same time many rural families face higher living costs.”