E.U. Inquiry visit to Hereford yesterday

Originally from: chris stockdale
                        
Brief Report of EU Inquiry in Hereford, 20th September
2002.
 
 A very small group, mostly composed of farmers (max. 20), attended the truncated EU Inquiry at BelmontParish Hall, Hereford yesterday, for a meeting organized by the local Conservative Party and by Neil Parish, MEP, which he himself joined half way through after speaking on a radio programme . His colleague and MEP for Herefordshire Philip Brovell(?) initially started without him, ably abetted by Albert Maat, MEP,Vice-Chair of the EU Agriculture Committee.
 
 A major concern expressed was the inaction by the Govt. with regard to illegal imports; agreed it is a massive task and not possible to achieve total security but to have done effectively nothing sends a very clear and chilling message of this Govt\x{2019}s attitude to farming in the U.K. One attendee asked if Brussels were aware of the reality of what happened here in 2001 and was assured that through their visits to Cumbria,Wales, Devon, the Forest of Dean, Staffordshire (the previous day), etc, the Committee did in fact have a very good idea indeed! On several occasions the MEP\x{2019}s referred to their recent visit by Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett,and readers of this can rest assured that the Committee were as astonished (and unfooled) by her words as were we.

 Time and again the topic returned to our present state of preparedness for the next occasion,which could be as soon as tomorrow. Again and again we heard tales of disorganization, of total chaos, of fractured and contradictory lines of command\x{2013} well, you all know this. But have we learnt anything? Are we better prepared now? No, no progress at all. Albert Maat emphasized that his aim is, accepting that as in life so in Politics, we all make mistakes, not to try and find individuals to carry the can, but to analyse what went wrong so as to avoid making the same mistake again. He stated that the attitude of the British Govt.,that everything had been handled remarkably well considering etc., no real lessons to be learnt, tra la, tra la, particularly (dishonest and) obstructive.

 
 Encouragingly, both MEP\x{2019}s brought the discussion back to Vaccination, as if very gently taking children by the hand and introducing them to a totally new and alien concept. Neil Parish stated that it wasn\x{2019}t the farmers who stopped the vaccination, it was the supermarkets and the processors, although when I later put it to one of the most senior farmers present (until recently on Govt. advisory boards etc.) that that was nonsense, it was Ben Gill, he agreed,saying that he had to, because it would have been disastrous for the industry to vaccinate as the supermarkets could have just refused to buy vaccinated product and left the greater part of UK agriculture up the gum tree with no market. It\x{2019}s very complicated, he said, to vaccinate, there aren\x{2019}t enough vets;I said well why not train people to do it while supplies of vaccine are being defrosted, and he did then agree that any stockman could do it, (and the MEP\x{2019}shad volunteered the info. that there had been plenty of vaccine available). Ok, he said, but what about calves born just after vaccinating, it would be an administrative nightmare meaning another passport system, andwalked off. These high-powered people just do not seem to want to find solutions, only problems. The fear of a two-tier market developing for vaccinated and non-vaccinated stock came up in the meeting, but no mention ofthe EU provision to compensate should such happen. In discussing this with the wife of a dairy farmer afterwards, she said, yes she knew, but this Govt. don\x{2019}t claim half the things they could from Europe because of the high proportion of UK borne cost, which I merely pointed out was signed by Margaret Thatcher and that the seeds of this present crisis go back to way before this Govt. and she was gone ! .

 The old chestnut about vaccination being impossible because it is not possible to legislate to require supermarkets to take vaccinated meat was presented, so it was suggested from the floor that legislation be drafted to require vaccinated meat from abroad to be labelled as such. The MEP\x{2019}s seemed to like this , as they appreciated the lunatic, almost criminal arm-lock that the supermarkets and their MNC chums have placed not only farmers but also politicians under.
 
 
 Previously, our former NFU group Secretary had said that regionalisation is accepted abroad but that we couldn\x{2019}t have done it because the French would doubtless not have accepted it as trustworthy and would no thave taken our lamb; so how many lambs went into the welfare cull rather than take that risk or make the effort to find other outlets,even if for less money, or establish cold stores to cope with the seasonal surplus ( I think the Kiwis would have understood as a one -off, post-WW 2 gratitude settlements notwithstanding)?

 Curiously, the AHB seemed to be regarded as a good thing\x{2013} I didn\x{2019}t get a chance to ask why, but I think it seems to be because Lord Plumb is sorting it out with Brussels, I think that that will be the means by which Compulsary vaccination will be imposed -- but this was not clear ---it was a Conservative- called meeting and most people but me seemed at least superficially to have taken the NFU line, although most (all) knew the whole thing was a disgraceful shambolic farce, but one that might have been (and therefore could in future be) best sorted by killing more, more quickly! The MEP\x{2019}s were like a breath of fresh air by comparison .

 All agreed we must get a good, up to date and well rehearsed Contingency Plan ; what is in it remains contentious. That said, most people there being neighbours, knew or found out that I am working on this area and wish me well with it, which was personally heartening, and also helpful in terms of opening doors. Kevin Feakins was present and his story could fill a book, but you\x{2019}d need a strong stomach to read it .A prominent Dairy Farmer present believed the Bobby Waugh /poor swill-feeding practices story, (although he may not now), but I don\x{2019}t think anyone else in the room thought the epidemic began there and the MEP\x{2019}s must know things that you or I do not.

 Other points raised were why the 20-DayStandstill is still in place and why Defra are only now about to put out to tender for a biosecurity audit of the need for the same. Also, why walkers can cross from farm to farm whereas a farmer has to jump through hoops; and when can the Clean \x{2013}up Contractors expect to get paid. A Contractor present spoke of 12 companies being owed a huge sum which the Govt. are not paying until it is audited\x{2014}so four men are working 40 hours a week at a cost of £25 an hour each to ensure fair play ; so far, by their own admission, they have processed 20 outof 177 farms in 18 months , and will authorize no further payments until all the audit is completed. This contractor spoke of visiting 36 farms in one daywhere the stock had been dead for more than three weeks and he was told to burn them. Meanwhile, he assured the Committee, Defra are shredding Documents and erasing e-mails (\x{2018}upgrading the computer system\x{2019}) with an uncharacteristicurgency.

 As usual, a stimulating but frustrating event, too short, but useful not least for the conversations outside the Hall, bringing people together who would not otherwise meet. Did it get us any nearer to the Truth or to preventing it happening again ? Yes, both, a little bit. Further submissions can still be made by post or e-mail but speed was urged as they are heading towards reporting, and especially with regard to the AHB\x{2019}s imminent appearance in the House of Lords.
                        

Originally from: Farmtalking
                        
Hi Chris!

Thanks for the report from Hereford- I'll also add it to the Farmtalking 'News' page!

Please e-mail me direct your address if you would like it to be included on the page advertising the Badges for sale in aid of Warmwell.

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Originally from: chris stockdale
                        
Jane, thanks.
My address is Cherry Wood Farm,
 Lyston Lane,
 Orcop Hill,
 Herefordshire, HR2 8EW,
 My mobile no. is 07815 701884 (may be useful tomorrow).
 Best wishes, Chris.