Somerton & Frome MP Sarah Dyke secured a debate in Westminster Hall yesterday to discuss rural issues. It is her first debate in which she has secured the motion. This was that “This house has considered Government support for rural affairs”.

The motion was well supported by other LibDems and Conservatives with rural constituencies. The tome was broadly consensual with a minimum of point scoring. Something of a success in itself.

In moving the motion Sarah Dyke took the opportunity to raise the issue of a station at Langport or Somerton. Noting: “Fifty-three thousand people live within 10 km of Langport and Somerton, yet they are without access to a train station. Travellers have to drive 24 km to Taunton or 25km to Castle Cary. For those without access to private transport, the travel time by bus between Langport and Taunton is 51 minutes, and for Somerton it is 62 minutes. There is no direct connection to the rail by bus between Langport and Somerton and Castle Cary, with public transport requiring an interchange. The shortest journey time is therefore around one hour and 17 minutes. Bus routes in my constituency are also under threat, with four routes currently without guaranteed long-term funding.”

Other issues she raised included poor broadband performance, bank closures and food price inflation. All matters which have featured in pages of The Leveller over the past 12 months. She went on to cover high energy costs which disproportionately impact rural communities and a lack of investment in farming.

Further contributions from MPs including Therese Coffey and an assortment of MPs from Labour, LibDems, SNP and even the DUP. There was broad support for Sarah Dyke in securing the debate and for the opportunity to raise rural issues in a public forum.

By way of response there was also a first for Robbie Moore a Minister at DEFRA. It was his first debate where he had the task of responding for government. He acknowledged all the issues raised. There were references to sums of money to address various issues and pledges that concerns had been heard.

It would be unfair to say he was short on specifics. But some of them will draw a cynical response. For instance this is what he had to say on gigabyte broadband: “The Government recognise that and are doing something about it. Through Project Gigabit, we are investing £5 billion in hard-to-reach areas to achieve access to lightning-fast broadband. Our target is to reach 85% gigabit-capable coverage by 2025, with nationwide coverage by 2030. Through the £1 billion shared rural network, in collaboration with industry, we will deliver 4G coverage to 95% of the UK’s land mass by 2025, which will help many people living in remote rural areas.”

It was perfectly reasonable, but many here in Somerset will be feeling we have heard this all before. And as Sarah Dyke had already references introducing the debate, Somerton & Frome in particular have heard it all before: “it is in the bottom 6% of constituencies for mobile coverage, and nearly a quarter of the constituency is in a total 5G notspot. This has a significant impact on attracting businesses to the area, with rural businesses already struggling with online sales, services and accepting credit card payments.”