The Tories should spare a thought for rural Britain It's the end of term for the House of Commons and many Conservative MPs will be returning to their constituencies with a warm sense of confidence. The economy shows signs of perking up. The Government's welfare reforms enjoy wide support among the voters, a series of scandals involving the NHS has proved the case for change, and the grisly extremist cleric Abu Qatada has finally returned to Jordan to face justice. Meanwhile, Labour is entering a potentially bitter internal debate over its links to the trade unions, confirming a general suspicion that the party is out of touch with the real issues. On the whole, the Conservative report card is looking good. But we would urge the party's MPs to put aside some time, as they relax over the recess, to consider the challenges facing Britain - particularly in its rural parts. This Sunday we devote our Life supplement to a celebration of the countryside. The countryside is truly the heart and soul of Britain - a place of tradition, industry and leisure, somewhere we can all flee to on a hot day to escape the swelter of the towns and cities. Caroline McGhie's article on life in the village of Broad Chalke in Wiltshire depicts a part of Britain that has done an impressive job of preserving its identity against the tide of change: a village shop staffed by volunteers selling local produce; a cricket ground; an open garden scheme overseen by a colonel. Sadly, not all of the countryside is in such good health. Farming is in crisis, thanks in part to long and dry winters and rain-sodden springs. Today, one in four farming households lives in poverty. Total income from farming fell by 14 per cent to £4.7 billion in the past year, while the average farm income has also fallen by 14 per cent to just £25,175; the average salary of a full-time hill farmer is only £12,600. Such is the extent of the problem that charity volunteers have been bringing food boxes to people living in rural communities and the Samaritans report a significant increase in calls from farmers. The Campaign to Protect Rural England has called on consumers and supermarkets to buy more locally produced food, and for supermarkets to pay fairer prices. The countryside economy would also be enormously helped by expanding broadband access. We must do more to help conserve our natural environment, as well, considering the impact of relaxed planning laws on the green belt or the onward march of wind power. Foolish targets for generating more electricity from inefficient wind turbines that despoil vast amounts of land have posed a persistent threat to rural Britain. Thankfully, the Government has shown some sense in cutting long-term subsidies for wind by 25 per cent and by promising to give communities greater power to veto the construction of new farms - although energy firms will be able to offer financial "incentives" to residents, which will put them under enormous pressure. Then there is the issue of the consequences of the Government's flagship transport project - the high-speed rail link between London, Birmingham and the North of England known as HS2. Today we report on the full extent of the environmental impact of this proposal: it will tear up 32 ancient woodlands, 20 conservation areas, 106 habitats of "principle importance" to wildlife - and it will be constructed on 40km of floodplain. We heartily support the Government's desire to stimulate growth, but we are not convinced that the case has been fully made for this costly project. What might be good for Birmingham and London could prove to be a nightmare for those living in-between, where so much countryside will have to be cleared. Given the potential damage, this does not strike us as a very conservative project. We would encourage Tory MPs and government ministers, having spent their holidays acquainting themselves with the issues facing rural Britain, urgently to push those issues up the agenda when they return to Westminster. After all, when we speak about the need to preserve the countryside, we mean not only helping those who live and work there, but also conserving a living tradition that is an essential part of the British character.