Open letter to Tony Blair

DEAR MR BLAIR,

I feel I should write and thank you for your unfailing support for the farming industry since you came to power

I recall in 1997 when strict rules were put in place by your government to control BSE, such as no animal over thirty months could enter the food chain, even though the vast majority of beef herds in this country had never seen a case of the disease; you still permitted imports from other countries of cow beef, even though BSE was present in many of those countries.

Do you remember the protests at the ports when we begged for checks on imports but you did nothing?

We have been very aware over the past four years of the different standards we as British farmers have had to raise our livestock to compared with standards implemented in Europe and the rest of the world.

The extra costs involved meant that it cost us more to produce than the price we received on the finished product.

But once again we are grateful for your support in allowing supermarkets to import meat from countries whose production methods are forbidden by law in this country.

No doubt you remember our many protests at supermarket depots.

Then there have been hunting and right-to-roam, issues which must have caused you some awkward moments as you desperately strived to rush them through parliament. And what about the fuel protest? How embarrassing – Great Britain almost brought to its knees by a protest started by a couple
of farmers.

How many days did it take you to call in the Army then?

Many times you must have scratched your head and wondered how on earth you could rid yourself of this troublesome sector of British society.

Why is it alleged that the government made enquiries about two weeks before the first case of foot-and-mouth was discovered about supplies of timber available for incineration?

Was it just a pre-emptive move in respect of a nationwide barbecue you were planning to celebrate you re-election?

Why have you taken so long to respond to this National disaster? What a few weeks ago was a smouldering fire is now a raging inferno.

Do you feel if you dealt with this situation too quickly, then you would still have to deal with those annoying farmers giving you even more hassle in your next term of office? That would never do.

Just take the farmers off the land, give the people the right to roam freely wherever they want without obstruction and the likelihood of stepping in something unpleasant, but be sure to tell them to take their hooks with them to clear their own pathways because, without the animals grazing, England (and the rest of the UK) will no longer be a green and pleasant land but a desolate land overgrown by briars, ferns, docks and many other things growing out of control (unlike the foot-and-mouth crisis, which your henchman Nick Brown constantly reminds us is not out of control)>

After all, why do we need farmers in this country? We can continue to import meat from countries cheaply enough.

Countries that are even now supplying us with carcasses containing banned spinal cord and, even more importantly, we will be able to carry on importing meat from countries where foot-and-mouth is an ever-present disease, because it wont matter any more because it is not harmful to humans and the wont be any
livestock left to be infected by it

In conclusion, thank you, once again, Mr Blair for your support, and I hope that you enjoy the new countryside that will be yours to enjoy once this non-crisis is over.

Ruth Watkins, Ty Du Farm, Llanarth, Raglan, Usk

rpaul@aol.com