Re: An Open Letter to The Prime Minister

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
Sorry but the words "cat" and "hell's chance" spring to mind with regard to the likelihood of your getting a reply so I wonder if in fact you have written this merely as a means of getting things off your chest. If so wouldnt a letter to the 'Daily Mail' have sufficed at least as well? Since I understood 'Farmtalking' to be all-embracing in terms of race, religion, colour and creed and thereby presumably in terms of political persuasion too, dont you feel that posting this obviously anti-Labour rant is a tad inappropriate here?

Originally from: Dan Jay
                        
http://www.freewebz.com/prime/

Originally from: Dan Jay
                        

Originally from: Dan Jay
                        
Why is an anti-labour rant inappropriate here? Do you agree with New Labour policies?

The way they handled the foot and mouth outbreak was a shambles and I believe that the contiguous cull was illegal.

Unfortunately the majority of the population have no connection with the farming industry at all and that is why we need to mention other issues.

If you really think that what I have put on Farmtalking is inappropriate please delete it and I will not bother to put anything else on here again.

Originally from: Mary Critchley
                        
No no! Stay with us!

Your letter and picture made me – for one – smile (albeit grimly)

All the best
Mary

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
My political opinions are my own and attempts to engage in a political debate across the range of issues you list in your letter to the Prime Minister will only polarise us within this group I believe. The CA has been hijacked by Labour luvvies and I think it would be a tragedy if 'Farmtalking' were to be similarly hijacked by those with directly opposing views.
Yes the way the government of the day handled the FMD crisis was a shambles, but I saw nothing offered by either of the other two main parties during the election campaign which suggested to me that either of them would have handled it any better. Perhaps if you did you would like to clarify it for me? The reasons for it being a shambles go much deeper than the mere fact that Tony Blair was in office or even that he had one eye on the election at the time.
If you think launching a general anti Labour tirade is likely to win you support from the majority of British people then clearly I respect your right to hold that view, though my personal opinion is that you will only alienate an already politically apathetic populace rather than gain their support. But then I am unclear, do you want to have your pound of flesh with regard to FMD or do you want to gain a greater level of support and understanding from the British people WRT farming specifically and the countryside generally? Personally I have rather less interest in the former and considerably more in the latter.
 I also do not have any authority to request you to delete your thread and neither would I ask you to do that even if I did. Equally though I do have a right to say that I think it is inappropriate and I do.

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
CPL4NRG:

I'm sorry, perhaps I should explain my antipathy to discussion groups like this being used for such overtly political means more clearly. Those of us who subscribe(d) to the Foot and Mouth Smartgroup will well recall the tales of Armageddon being nye in terms of Foot and Mouth, the fact that these emanated from one source and that, coincidentally, they just happened to grow even longer legs the closer we got to election time. I received a most unpleasant (and unsolicited) phone call from this person telling me how a good friend of mine was an out and out Socialist simply because he had the temerity to dispute – quite justifiably – this person's claims and, infinitely worse still, I was told by a very senior member of NFU staff that their phone lines had been jammed at this time with calls from distraught farmers who had "certain knowledge" that foot and mouth was heading their way and could the NFU do anything at all to help them protect their stock. Strangely enough these stories died a death once the Judgement Day had passed and foot and mouth did not appear where we had been told without a shadow of a doubt that it would. Now to me that is at least as great an abuse of the farming community as anything the Government or MAFF/DEFRA might have done to it and whilst I am not so naive as to assume you can keep politics out of any situation, far less such contentious matters as the ones we are considering, I personally would rather focus on issues where we can achieve some level of unity – even if heated discussion is involved along the way – rather than in deliberately stoking the flames of discord.

Originally from: Dan Jay
                        
I fail to see what point you are trying to make here. This government's image is in ruins anyway as a new poll reveals.

Whatever rumours anybody else has written on other sites is not the issue. The depth of public concern over the way the Government handled FMD and the NHS is.

Obviously this Government has the support of people like yourself otherwise they would not have won the last election but they are not beyond critisism unless we lose our democracy.
                        

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
Possibly the fact that you "obviously" consider that the Government won the last election – and the one before – due to the support of people "like myself" (what am I like? Have you any idea?) is also the reason why you fail to understand the points I am trying to make. You I would suggest incline towards the dogmatic whereas I incline towards the pragmatic. Vive la difference!

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
Possibly the assumption you make that the obvious support of people "like myself" (what am I like? Have you any idea?) enabled the Government to win this and the previous election, is also the reason why you fail to understand the points I am trying to make. You I would suggest incline towards the dogmatic whereas I incline towards the pragmatic. Vive la difference!
 I am sorry but I have not seen the latest polls you refer to. I can only assume there has been a massive nosedive in popularity since this one from UK Elect, the United Kingdom Election Forecast and Politics Program: December 2001 UK General Election Forecast: Labour 483 Conservative 92 Liberal Democrat 57

June 2001 General Election: Labour 413 Conservative 166 Liberal Democrat 52

No Government is beyond criticism and I have my own of this, previous and, no doubt, future administrations. Indeed if you want to know my voting intentions then I shall tell you I have every intention of voting for Bremner, Bird and Fortune being the only credible opposition in this country at the moment.
How relevant all this to this particular arena however is probably demonstrated by the lack of response you have received to your original posting. Perhaps I should have exhibited the same restraint since what I perceive as your blind dogma (and do forgive me if I make stereotypical assumptions of you) is hardly conducive towards a rational discussion.

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
Possibly the assumption you make that the obvious support of people "like myself" (what am I like? Have you any idea?) enabled the Government to win this and the previous election, is also the reason why you fail to understand the points I am trying to make. You I would suggest incline towards the dogmatic whereas I incline towards the pragmatic. Vive la difference!
 I am sorry but I have not seen the latest polls you refer to. I can only assume there has been a massive nosedive in popularity since this one from UK Elect the United Kingdom Election Forecast and Politics Program: December 2001 UK General Election Forecast: Labour 483 Conservative 92 Liberal Democrat 57

June 2001 General Election: Labour 413 Conservative 166 Liberal Democrat 52

No Government is beyond criticism and I have my own of this, previous and, no doubt, future administrations.
How relevant they are to this particular arena however is probably demonstrated by the lack of response you have received to your original posting. Perhaps I should have exhibited the same restraint since what I perceive as your blind dogma (and do forgive me if I make stereotypical assumptions of you) is hardly conducive towards a rational discussion.

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
Possibly the assumption you make that the obvious support of people "like myself" (what am I like? Have you any idea?) enabled the Government to win this and the previous election, is also the reason why you fail to understand the points I am trying to make. You I would suggest incline towards the dogmatic whereas I incline towards the pragmatic. Vive la difference!
 I am sorry but I have not seen the latest polls you refer to. I can only assume there has been a massive nosedive in popularity since this one from UK Elect, the United Kingdom Election Forecast and Politics Program: December 2001 UK General Election Forecast: Labour 483 Conservative 92 Liberal Democrat 57

June 2001 General Election: Labour 413 Conservative 166 Liberal Democrat 52

No Government is beyond criticism and I have my own of this, previous and, no doubt, future administrations. Indeed if you want to know my voting intentions then I shall tell you I have every intention of voting for Bremner, Bird and Fortune being the only credible opposition in this country at the moment.
How relevant all this to this particular arena however is probably demonstrated by the lack of response you have received to your original posting. Perhaps I should have exhibited the same restraint since what I perceive as your blind dogma (and do forgive me if I make stereotypical assumptions of you) is hardly conducive towards a rational discussion.

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
Apologies for my multi-posting here. I kept getting a "cannot delete" message when it was apparently posting to you.

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
Possibly the assumption you make that the obvious support of people "like myself" (what am I like? Have you any idea?) enabled the Government to win this and the previous election, is also the reason why you fail to understand the points I am trying to make. You I would suggest incline towards the dogmatic whereas I incline towards the pragmatic. Vive la difference!
 I am sorry but I have not seen the latest polls you refer to. I can only assume there has been a massive nosedive in popularity since this one from UK Elect, the United Kingdom Election Forecast and Politics Program: December 2001 UK General Election Forecast: Labour 483 Conservative 92 Liberal Democrat 57

June 2001 General Election: Labour 413 Conservative 166 Liberal Democrat 52

No Government is beyond criticism and I have my own of this, previous and, no doubt, future administrations. Indeed if you want to know my voting intentions then I shall tell you I have every intention of voting for Bremner, Bird and Fortune being the only credible opposition in this country at the moment.
How relevant all this to this particular arena however is probably demonstrated by the lack of response you have received to your original posting. Perhaps I should have exhibited the same restraint since what I perceive as your blind dogma (and do forgive me if I make stereotypical assumptions of you) is hardly conducive towards a rational discussion.

Originally from: Susan Staunton
                        
CPL4NRG – I think hoist by your own petard best describes your predicament here. You say I cant describe you as dogmatic because I dont know you and yet you somehow seem convinced of how I voted more than 6 months ago without having any clue about me and what I truly think or feel. Indeed you havent even picked up on the fact that I prefer to be known as Sue rather than Susan.
Your initial posting on this thread was certainly a dogmatic one in terms of its anti Labour sentiment and, as such, I find it hard to imagine that you could or would even want to eulogise about them. I can think of many things and even certain people whom I would wish to write eulogies for, but there isnt a politician living and probably not even one dead amongst them I can assure you.
The poll you refer to is a very specific one with regard to the current sleaze factor within the Labour party as compared to the Tories at their worst. I think it was that scourge of politicians of every hue, John Humphreys, who asserted that it is largely irrelevant in terms of peoples' voting intentions since it was taken at the time of the recent sackings with the resultant predictable kneejerk reaction. And in fact, given the number of years this Government has been in power, I should think they would be delirious to only be this small amount adrift in a poll on such a topical issue. I think you should possibly focus on why, in the 6 months since the general election, the opinion polls indicate that if an election were held now the Labour party would actually GAIN yet another 70 seats entirely at the expense of the Tories.
What this indicates to me is that the urban population, ie the overwhelming majority of the British populace, couldnt give a tinker's damn about the plight of rural dwellers generally and farmers specifically. What do you propose as a positive means of gaining their sympathy, understanding and ultimately their support? I mean suppose Tony takes your letter seriously and falls at our feet in abject apology and thereafter invites us in for a cup of tea to discuss where he's been going wrong. What are we going to say to him then?

Originally from: Dan Jay
                        
Susan – I don't know how you can describe me a a dogmatic person because you don't even know know me. I would be very happy if I could write eulogies about this Government's performance and nothing would give me greater pleasure.

This last year has been devasting for farmers mainly due to this government's policies.

And if you read last Sunday's Times, 60% of people that took part in a survey thought that Labour was disreputable compared to 41% who thought that the Tories were.
                        

Originally from: Molly Maxwell
                        
Absolutely brilliant – may I send it to my local newspaper (not that they will print it)!

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