Brown sees crisis as passing shower
17 March 2000
‘Brown sees crisis as passing shower’
NICK Brown treats the farming crisis like a shower of rain — about which nothing can be done and which will soon pass, says The Guardian sketch writer Simon Hoggart.
“Its extraordinary,” says Mr Hoggart, drawing a parallel between the farming crisis and the sell off of Rover by BMW.
“Farming and the motor industry both seem on the brink of oblivion and theres nothing ministers can do except stand around saying how sad it all is.”
He describes how in the Commons on Thursday (16 March) Mr Brown rejected Tory accusations of complacency over the plight of the dairy industry.
The remedy, argued the minister, lies in the marketplace.
And when shadow agriculture minister Tim Yeo pointed out that supermarkets were actually increasing prices while farmers receive less and less, Mr Brown “was unfazed”, attributing rises to “commercial arrangements”.
“Mr Brown talks about the farming crisis like a rain shower, which we cant do anything about and which will soon pass over,” comments Mr Hoggart.