One of the lessons we learnt from the pandemic lockdowns was the importance for our health, wellbeing and mental balance of being close to nature. The one thing we could do (well, those of us not living in Downing Street) was to go for a walk and experience the closeness that can come from contact with the natural world.
We should strive to make it possible for everyone to have that opportunity. To breathe the fresh air, to walk in the countryside, to explore the riverbanks and woodlands: these are things that should not be determined at the whim of someone who happens to own the land.
During the first term of the 1997 Labour government, we got part of the way there. We brought