Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, Labour’s minister for nature and rural affairs, told a fringe meeting at her party’s conference that a nostalgic vision of Britain built around warm ale, a black Labrador and a country pub was “a very far-Right nostalgic vision of Britain” that “never really existed”. Her remarks have drawn criticism from Conservatives and the Great British PAC, as rural communities continue to face pub closures, rising costs and pressure on farming.