Harriett Baldwin MP has this week been appointed as a parliamentary patron to a campaign to protect rural communities. The MP has become a parliamentary patron of the Rural Fair Share campaign which has been set up to make a stronger case for rural funding programmes. Two weeks ago, a report from the Office of Fair Trading confirmed that many rural communities face higher prices and a lack of competition in areas such as fuel prices and rural broadband services. According to a report by the Rural Services Network, rural residents earn less, on average, than those in cities, while urban areas receive government grants fifty per cent higher per head than those in the countryside. Harriett commented: “I have been an active campaigner for fairer funding for Worcestershire schools and the Worcestershire NHS and this is a logical extension of that work. “We now see a series of reports which confirm that the rural dweller is often worse off than their urban counterparts. “The OFT report says that there is often less competition in rural communities and I hope this campaign will strengthen the voice of villages and rural communities across West Worcestershire and beyond.”