Rural pressure groups reject minister's 'leftwing smear campaign' claim

The National Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural England have rejected a minister's claim that they have been orchestrating a leftwing "smear campaign" against government plans to simplify planning laws. Bob Neill, the local government minister, said they have been criticising government plans to simplify planning laws because they believe they will be bad for the environment. In an unusually strong broadside, Neill said: "This is a carefully choreographed smear campaign by leftwingers based within the national headquarters of pressure groups." But Shaun Spiers, the CPRE's chief executive, said: "I'm under lots of pressure from our branches, who are impeccably Middle England, to take the gloves off and to be much more oppositional and confrontational on this. "Our branches are up in arms – and they are not in any way leftwing." Peter Nixon of the National Trust said Neill's comments were "wide of the mark". The National Trust was concerned about what the government's plans would do for places that people "love and cherish", Nixon said. The two charities are particularly worried about a plan to create a general presumption in favour of development, which they say will make it much harder for planning authorities to protect the countryside.