lizziecornish ssaid: I have never lived in a city

Yes you have. You were born and brought up in Pinner, the epitome of Betjeman's Metroland, then you worked at a central London hospital, or so you've told us all often enough. More recently you have trekked around a succession of faded Victorian English seaside towns. A million miles away from the harsh realities of rural life for real people.

Ruth really does live in an English village and is thus presumably aware of the struggles for survival of agricultural workers. I come from a tiny hamlet where my grandfather was the first farmer there to get a tractor after the end of WW2. He had three fields, spread out at some distance from each other, and toiled hard on them and could not afford to employ labour. They lived in a stone-built, 17th century cottage, ever so chocolate box-looking from the outside but cold and draughty with a pump the sole source of water. Today that tiny village has no shop, indeed no community facilities at all. The cottages are tarted up to estate agent brochure standards yet the place is entirely still and empty except at weekends. All the younger people are in the towns, living "urban culture and clubbing".

"English country life" was always tough except for the gentry in the big halls. It really wasn't (and isn't) like Mabel Lucy Attwell, Enid Blyton or an episode of The Archers. Mind you, even that had a gang of racist thugs mugging the local Asian solicitor. And the local cricketers play 20/20. Get real and get out of Albion Fartland.