Man of the moment David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, came to the Peak District this weekend. He was the key speaker at the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Kinder Mass Trespass and met the BMC.

When Mr Miliband saw the BMC's stand, he made a beeline for us and wanted to know more about issues that affect climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers.

We took the opportunity to take the excellent photgraph above of Mr Miliband with BMC Access Officer Dr Cath Flitcroft and David spent some time chatting to both Cath and Peak volunteer, Henry Folkard.   Mr Miliband also took with him a copy of the BMC members' magazine 'Summit' and is, no doubt, engrossed in it as we speak.

During his speech to 300 walkers and climbers at New Mills Town Hall in Derbyshire, he made a number of key statements about the place open access has on his personal agenda.  He stated that Government can be slow to respond to public opinion but the affects are often worthwhile - as was the case with the Kinder Mass Tresspass and we should keep up the pressure on Government for more change (in particular he referred to climate change).  David also made some very positive comments about the importance of coastal access and said that within the next couple of months the public will be able to have their say on increasing access to the coast. 

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