# Sheep farmer shoots dead 10 foxes after losing 33 lambs



## Judgemental (30 March 2016)

From The Farmers Weekly

http://www.fwi.co.uk/news/sheep-farmer-shoots-dead-10-foxes-after-losing-33-lambs.htm

Sheep farmer shoots dead 10 foxes after losing 33 lambs
Philip Case
Tuesday 29 March 2016 15:00
A farmer has shot dead 10 foxes after 33 lambs were mauled to death in the worst sheep attack he has suffered in more than 45 years of farming.

Devastated sheep farmer Allan Collins blamed the sheep attacks on unscrupulous companies that let urban foxes loose in the countryside.

Mr Collins, who farms around 1,200 Exmoor Horn sheep and Scots ewes at Worth Farm on Exmoor, said the attacks had all the hallmarks of being carried out by foxes.

See also: Three-week-old Easter lambs shot dead

The lambs, all aged between seven days and two weeks old, had been mauled to death, left to die in fields or dragged away. Many suffered bite marks to their throats or crunch marks to their skulls.

Dead sheep and foxes lying on ground © Linda Short
© Linda Short

Marksmen used thermal imaging cameras to target eight foxes, which were shot dead in the one field in Hawkridge, Exmoor, on Tuesday 15 March. A further two foxes were killed on Friday 18 March.

Mr Collins said: We have been farming here since 1970 and this is the worst sheep attack weve ever had.

Someone is turning urban foxes out into the countryside and we dont know who. With Easter being early this year, we were the first people that lambed in this area, which may explain why weve been so badly hit.

Dead foxes on ground © Linda Short
© Linda Short

Dumping urban foxes in the countryside is cruel to the foxes, cruel to the sheep and frustrating for the farmers who have to deal with the consequences.

He is 100% convinced that the foxes had been captured in cities and towns and let loose in the countryside.

Some of the foxes had been in car crashes as their hairs have been clipped on their bodies. One fox was shot dead after it came out of a hedge and was attracted by a dog biscuit. A wild fox would never have done that.

Under wildlife protection laws, anyone who releases a fox in an area where it may be caused harm faces up to six months imprisonment and/or £5,000 fine per animal.

Dumping urban foxes in the countryside is cruel to the foxes, cruel to the sheep and frustrating for the farmers who have to deal with the consequences Allan Collins, sheep farmer

Graham Le Blond, co-owner of Fox-A-Gon, a London-based company for non-lethal fox management/control, which operates across the UK, said foxes were territorial animals that fight for the best parts of the territory.

He added: If you take a fox out then all the other foxes from the surrounding area will move in.

But Mr Le Blond said there were unscrupulous companies that release urban foxes into the countryside.

They normally say they will release the fox to a sanctuary. But there are no sanctuaries in the country that will take healthy foxes  either they shoot them, or they will take them out to the countryside.

Unfortunately, yes, I have known them (foxes) to be dumped.

However, the RSPCA said there was no evidence of urban foxes being removed and dumped in the countryside, and dismisses the suggestion as an urban myth.


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## popsdosh (30 March 2016)

About 5 years ago a local keeper caught a van dumping foxes . When he talked to the driver they produced a map and directions of where to release them . All on RSPCA headed paper.

We regularly get foxes dumped around here word goes round and they are all dead within a couple of days some even come to a whistle. Its so irresponsible and done so they dont get fox blood on their hands. Its not doing the dumped foxes any favours as they dont know how to feed themselves and they are bringing in all sorts to the local population.


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## Dry Rot (30 March 2016)

I have quite a lot of experience of fox damage but pictures of predations by something that is not fox are appearing on some forums. The suspects are badgers.

Anyone remember how blue tits used to attack milk bottles for the cream? Animals learn from each other. It is called 'social learning'. I wonder will they take the badger off the protected list when that happens?


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## fburton (30 March 2016)

Tommy Brock and Mr Tod. Despicable. :frown3:


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## Judgemental (30 March 2016)

Until I read the Farmers Weekly piece, I was not aware that it is a criminal offence to dump foxes.

My fear is RABIES. 

With every Tom, Dick and Harry being able to come to the UK under EU membership, from RABIES infected countries. It's only a question of time before a Rabid dog enters the UK and passes the disease to the fox population.


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## Maesfen (30 March 2016)

The RSPCA used to dump plenty on the Brecon Beacons and no doubt other wild places too; I'm sure they still do.  So unfair on everyone, mostly the foxes that are dumped into a very strange environment with no idea how to look for food that isn't from a dustbin; they soon perish one way or the other but that's alright, nobody was seen to get blood on their hands.


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## Judgemental (30 March 2016)

With today's headline in The Daily Mail, that the 1.6 million people have migrated to the UK recently and the number of countries that they come from that are High Risk according to DEFRA, so far as Rabies is concerning is very alarming. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...igration-rockets-official-figures-reveal.html

The DEFRA link concerning High Risk Rabies Countries is: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...abies-risks-in-terrestrial-animals-by-country

Frankly somebody needs to wake up to the risks, especially bearing in mind Syria and Turkey are specifically named as High Risk.

We are stark raving mad not to take a proactive approach to the necessary animal security. ESPECIALLY THE DUMPING OF LIVE URBAN FOXES.

Sooner or later a migrant, whether legal or illegal will pop a rabid pouch in a bag and all hell will break loose in the fox population.


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## Orangehorse (31 March 2016)

A relative lives within easy driving distance of a New Town, so they are Out in the Countryside.  They regularly caught and shot urban foxes that had been let loose, they really hadn't much of a clue how to look after themselves.


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## Judgemental (1 April 2016)

From The Daily Express

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/586819/Rabies-risk-Britain-UK-foreign-animals-European-Union 

Britain faces growing threat of RABIES thanks to meddling EU

BRITAIN faces a growing risk of RABIES from a flood of foreign rescue dogs - all thanks to relaxed European Union quarantine laws.

By LEVI WINCHESTER
PUBLISHED: 05:31, Fri, Jun 26, 2015 | UPDATED: 07:59, Fri, Jun 26, 2015






38
a dog with rabies next to the E U flagGETTY
Britain could face a growing risk of rabies thanks to a flood of foreign animals
Stray dogs from Europe are being brought to the UK by British pet lovers, who are taking advantage of relaxed cross border laws to give animals a new life.

But, the changes in EU rules on foreign animal travel threatens to increase the risk of rabies being brought to Britain from those areas where the disease is still endemic - particularly Romania.

Rabies is a disease transported from animals to humans, with dogs being the most common way the illness is spread through passing infected saliva by biting, scratching or licking.

Split into two forms, rabies generally causes pricking, pain or a burning sensation around the wound site.

It has been known to cause hydrophobia - a fear of water, sometimes leading to foaming at the mouth - and in extreme cases can leave victims in a coma before eventually resulting in death.

Thousands of people around the world die from rabies each year.

an angry dog with rabiesGETTY
Dogs from Romania and other eastern European countries carry a greater risk of rabies
The UK is currently at no risk from rabies and until three years ago, animals were required to have a blood test for the disease a month after microchipping and having a rabies vaccination.

Dogs were also quarantined for six months before being allowed into Britain, as well as being given tick and tapeworm treatment.

But meddling EU officials ordered the blood test to be scrapped, and as a result, the number of dogs brought in through the Pet Travel Scheme from rabies-endemic countries rose 78 per cent between 2011 and 2013.

One might question if dogs with no detectable antibody responses have been properly vaccinated before rehoming and adoption
Dr Siv Klevar
Under the new laws, pets only have to be microchipped, have documentation to say they have been vaccinated against rabies, and a pet passport to head into Britain.

A total of 75 dogs who were certified as having been vaccinated against rabies were tested for their antibody levels - their capacity to fight off a rabies infection.

The dogs, which had arrived in Norway from eastern Europe in 2012, were found to have low antibody levels in their systems - much to the surprise of researchers.

In particular, the group focused mainly on dogs from Romania, Hungary, the Balkans and Baltic - where rabies is still rife.

It is believed that their immune systems may have been compromised due to the animals being in poor condition.

Rabies vaccinations in other parts of the world have worked well.

The results were published in the Veterinary Record.

Related articles
 Pensioners made prisoners in their own home by FRENZIED FOX
 Rabies fear as puppies are smuggled into the UK
 Shocking truth behind illegal eastern European puppies that are sent to UK for Chrirstmas
 Rabies danger as gangs from eastern Europe smuggle dogs into the UK
Dr Siv Klevar, Norwegian Veterinary Institute said: "Hence one might question if dogs with no detectable antibody responses have been properly vaccinated before rehoming and adoption in Norway."

He said the numbers entering the UK from rabies-infected countries was "worrying" - but stressed that a three week delay after vaccination is usually long enough to provide protection.

Dr Klevar added: "However, this is no longer the case when dogs are moved from rabies-endemic areas into rabies-free areas, particularly for free-roaming dogs which may unknowingly have been exposed to rabies virus before vaccination."

Paula Boyden, Veterinary Director at the charity The Dogs Trust, suggested that poor compliance with rabies vaccination could also mean a lapse in worming treatment too.

She said "vaccinating a dog which is already incubating disease will have little or no effect" adding that a further complication is that different sizes of dogs respond differently to the rabies vaccine, as do dogs of different ages.

She acknowledges that the numbers of new cases of rabies in Europe have fallen over the past 20 years but warned: "While the risk of rabies may be low, it is not absent.

"Does it have to take a case of the disease in the UK before this process is critically


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## Overread (3 April 2016)

Late to this chat but I know they've been doing it for years as well. Person over the hill from us had a selection of town foxes let loose at the bottom of his driveway - foxes that promptly ran right up the path and tore apart a lot of his bird pens where he kept various rare and collected pheasants and other birds. Several she shot and they were all very large. Whilst  a town fox might not be as clean in fur as its country counterpart; the townfox has a lot less fear of humanity and generally is bulkier and more well fed (well fatter fed on all the food - well is debateable). 

So they are far more bold and willing to do things that country foxes would never dare to do; plus they've got strength to back up their boldness. Of course many die; they die in territory fights; to guns and traps and to the fact that they are not as used to the risks of country life; but also because they are far more brazen in coming up to human habitation. 


Interestingly I read a few articles regrading wolves a while back and talking about the thread to humans and the main argument was that, in the case of wolves, the threat to people (indirectly and directly ) was greatest for hybrid wolf-dogs which had gained less fear of man from their dog-side and close proximity to growing up with humans. The less a predator or animal fears humanity the more risk they are toward human interests. Again you can see this in Africa where, some regions, have an abundance of elephants but with few to no matriarchs left; thus you've teenage and young elephants both not taught their migratory routes, but also not taught to fear man; so they get very brazen and bold (compounded by lack of territory and food and abundance in human areas). 



Sadly the RSPCA seems stuck in their policy of relocation over culling. I suspect if they even dared try the latter they'd get a huge backlash from people if it were found out. People in towns see foxes as a pest at the bins, but otherwise innocent and for the most part relish when they have wild animals living in their gardens. It encourages and will only lead to more dense urban fox populations and thus an increasing problem to contend with - esp if relocations remain the prime method of trying to ease the population pressure in urban areas and thus reduce damage there.


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## turkana (4 April 2016)

I used to work with a guy who had a friend in London who kept some chickens in his garden, he used to regulary trap foxes & then take them to Kent to release them when he visited family. So it could be anybody, who has got a trap, who is doing it.


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## Judgemental (9 April 2016)

Interesting, nay exceedingly profound, how the matter of distortions in the fox population due to criminal manipulation, by those opposed to hunting and germane to the geographical complexities of the British Isles, could eventually relate to artificial distortions in the immigrant and non-indigenous human population and are irrevocably intertwined. Which should be considered now for the future, with the greatest of care.


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## hackneylass2 (17 April 2016)

I would say that the largest threat of a rabid dog entering the UK would be from an ex-pat returning to the UK.  Many folks are selling up and returning home with their pets, especially from Turkey. Also those groups who are rescuing dogs from Romania etc.  I do feel we should tighten our laws regarding 'the free movement of animals' but how I don't exactly know.

I suspect that UK born folks returning from lives abroad would be more liable to bring pets with them, would you call those people immigrants? or does that term only equate to non UK born folks in your eyes?   Gawd help us if immigrants wanting to come here to work in the NHS were turned away at our borders.  Immigration is no bad thing, ask those who have spurned these shores to live in France, Spain and the New World.  I hope that you never need healthcare Judgemental, you may well find yourself being treated by an immigrant.


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## Judgemental (17 April 2016)

hackneylass2 said:



			I would say that the largest threat of a rabid dog entering the UK would be from an ex-pat returning to the UK.  Many folks are selling up and returning home with their pets, especially from Turkey. Also those groups who are rescuing dogs from Romania etc.  I do feel we should tighten our laws regarding 'the free movement of animals' but how I don't exactly know.

I suspect that UK born folks returning from lives abroad would be more liable to bring pets with them, would you call those people immigrants? or does that term only equate to non UK born folks in your eyes?   Gawd help us if immigrants wanting to come here to work in the NHS were turned away at our borders.  Immigration is no bad thing, ask those who have spurned these shores to live in France, Spain and the New World.  I hope that you never need healthcare Judgemental, you may well find yourself being treated by an immigrant.
		
Click to expand...

It's a while sine we have been treated to one of your personalized rants but don't stop, let it all out.....

If Priti Patel says we should worry about immigration that is good enough for me....

Priti Patel interview: It's not 'racist' to worry about immigration
 Ms Patel will become one of the increasingly prominent voices for the Leave campaign 
Ms Patel will become one of the increasingly prominent voices for the Leave campaign  CREDIT:  EDDIE MULHOLLAND FOR THE TELEGRAPH 
 Christopher Hope 
16 APRIL 2016 &#8226; 8:04AM
It is not &#8220;racist&#8221; to be concerned about the impact of mass immigration, Britain&#8217;s only Asian female Cabinet minister says.

The Work and Pensions minister Priti Patel, who is campaigning to leave the European Union, blames other politicians for making it impossible to raise concerns about the impact of the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants without being accused of being racist.

&#8220;There is more we have got to do to control our immigration and our EU membership has really hampered us.&#8221;
Priti Patel


In an interview with the Telegraph on the first day of the EU referendum campaign, Ms Patel says she is well qualified to comment on the issue as the daughter of Indian immigrants of Gujarati origin who left Uganda shortly before Idi Amin expelled the Asian community.

She says: &#8220;I don't subscribe to this view that it is racist to speak about immigration and I say that as a daughter or immigrants from decades ago. Our job is to articulate and represent the concerns of the British public &#8211; and we should be doing that whatever our backgrounds are.&#8221;

 Ms Patel is tipped to be a contender in the race to succeed David Cameron as Tory leader
Ms Patel is tipped to be a contender in the race to succeed David Cameron as Tory leader CREDIT: EDDIE MULHOLLAND FOR THE TELEGRAPH 
Ms Patel, 44, will become one of the increasingly prominent voices for the Leave campaign ahead of the EU referendum vote on June 23. One of her arguments for a British exit from Europe or &#8216;Brexit&#8217; will be that leaving the EU will allow the UK to take far greater control of the UK&#8217;s borders.

It might even help the Conservative party to hit its troubled manifesto target of bringing net migration levels into the UK down to tens of thousands of migrants as early as the first year of after a quitting the EU.




She says: &#8220;There is no reason we can&#8217;t. The public must not be given the view that when we leave it is all too difficult, all too complex.  It is not.

&#8220;There is more we have got to do to control our immigration and our membership of the European Union has really hampered us &#8211; we are working with our hands behind our backs.&#8221;

Taking back control over exactly who can and cannot move to the UK would have a huge knock-on effect in easing pressure on public services such as on school places and in the National Health Service.

She says: &#8220;Speak to the public wherever your go, pressures on public services are acute when you look at school places, there are not enough school places in some parts of our country because of the changes in our communities, because of the flow coming in.&#8221;

Watch: who is the typical 'In' or 'Out' voter?

Play! 01:30


A &#8216;Brexit&#8217; would allow Britain to trade more with Commonwealth countries like India, said Ms Patel, pointing out dismissively that the EU has been trying and failing since 2007 to agree a deal with India.

Closer to home, the Government could use some of the £350million saved by not handing a &#8220;weekly subscription&#8221; to Brussels to reverse cuts to public services, like community bus services in rural areas.

She says: &#8220;Any Government that is in control fully of its public finances by having that money back would be in a much better position to say &#8216;we can spend this locally in our communities&#8217;.&#8221;

Ms Patel &#8211; who has the right to attend Cabinet and is tipped by many to be a contender in the race to succeed David Cameron as Tory leader&#8211; is also unafraid to put a shot across the bows of Barack Obama, the US President, before a visit to the UK next week when he is expected to make the case for Britons to stay in the EU.




Ms Patel says she does not think it &#8220;appropriate&#8221; for President Obama to be telling Britons how to vote in the referendum, pointing out that &#8220;diplomatically we wouldn&#8217;t go to other countries and start speaking about domestic elections - and this is a domestic election&#8221;.

She says: &#8220;I just don't think it's appropriate for others who are not voting in this election really to give of a view. We are very proud British public are proud country and quite frankly we are capable of making up our own minds. I would not dream going and wading in on another country&#8217;s election at all.&#8221;

Britain&#8217;s decades-old &#8220;special relationship&#8221; with the US would survive too if Britain left the EU, she says, pointing out the strength of the UK&#8217;s Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US and the Nato alliance.

Watch: everything you need to know about EU Referendum polling day

Play! 01:46


Ms Patel says it is no wonder that &#8211; according to polls &#8211; two-thirds of the over-55s want Britain to leave the EU, not least because many of them feel a &#8220;betrayal&#8221; that they signed up to the European Economic Community in 1975, only for it to morph into the more political EU.

She says: &#8220;In &#8216;75 they voted for the economic case, and they were told that things would change and they would come back to us. But they can see that is exactly what has not happened: the political project continued to go on, the European Union has grown and grown.&#8221;

Ms Patel is not a new found convert to the &#8216;Brexit&#8217; cause though. She remembers the day she became a Eurosceptic: &#8216;Black Wednesday&#8217; in 1992 when she was 20 and Britain was forced to spend billions trying and failing to stay in the European exchange rate mechanism.

The resulting rise in interest rates from 10 per cent to 12 per cent, with the threat of a 15 per cent rate to come, was &#8220;devastating&#8221; she said as she worried about a nursing home business which her father had bought after borrowing heavily.

&#8220;The EU and its institutions have stolen the voice of the British public. We have become a bit-part player.&#8221;


She said: &#8220;My Dad had a small shop at the time, a convenience store, and I remember listening to the radio to hourly news bulletins thinking &#8216;what the hell is going on&#8217;. It was just devastating &#8211; my dad had bought a care home at the time and he had to borrow a bit of money from the bank.

&#8220;It just defined my outlook on Europe and then of course to see the utter devastation it brought &#8211; our economy tanked afterwards, people lost their jobs, lost their homes &#8211; we were lucky, we were so bloody lucky. My parents lost a lot in terms of assets, and their financial security, their pension security, things of that nature, completely clawed back by the banks. They were vultures.&#8221;

Part of the reason why immigration became a dirty word for some is too many politicians are &#8220;on transmit&#8221; and have a &#8220;tin ear&#8221; to the real concerns of voters, she says, proudly saying that she feels is a &#8220;solid Conservative [who] came up through grassroots&#8221;, painting herself as &#8220;as an activist for the past 25 years&#8221;.

Pointedly she hints clear that in some ways she is the heir to Margaret Thatcher by name-checking the late Prime Minister&#8217;s favourite Cabinet minister Lord Parkinson, who died earlier this year, saying that &#8220;being part of the DNA of the Conservative party is what really motivates me&#8221;.

Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons, 1976
Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons, 1976 CREDIT: GETTY
She says: &#8220;I have been a Conservative party member for a long time, I have been an activist for 25 years, I started off my political life in the Hertsmere Conservative association where Cecil Parkinson was my Member of Parliament.

&#8220;For me my future is being a strong voice in the Conservative party, being an activist at the grassroots, representing the grassroots, I have always been there for them, with them.

&#8220;I was on the board of the party &#8211; it was one of the first things I chose to do when I was elected in 2010. That is where I feel my heart and soul is. It is with them &#8211; I enjoy speaking with them, engaging with them. I travel the country extensively.&#8221;

No wonder Ms Patel&#8217;s strength for the Vote Leave campaign &#8211; and the reason why she will be a major spokesman for the Eurosceptic cause - is her ability to communicate complicated arguments about EU sovereignty in everyday language of the man (or woman) on the street in her Essex constituency.

&#8220;The European Union and its institutions have stolen the voice of the British public&#8221;, she says: &#8220;We have become a bit-part player. We have become like the sock puppet basically in this whole morass of the EU.&#8221;

But she admits the odds are against Britons voting to leave the EU on June 23. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what the odds are &#8211; I think there is everything to play for. I am incredibly optimistic. When you are up against the Government machinery - you are always fighting against the odds.&#8221;


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## Overread (17 April 2016)

Wait how did we go from vulpines to immigrants? 

This is all starting to feel like an episode of mongrels!


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## hackneylass2 (25 April 2016)

Judgemental.... not a rant as such, but although you have not covered most of my issues raised, I will reply to your one - which seems very much sauce for the goose, not!

'Ms Patel says she is well qualified to comment on the issue as the daughter of Indian immigrants of Gujarati origin who left Uganda shortly before Idi Amin expelled the Asian community.'

And I wonder what Ms Patel and her parents lives would have been like if they had been barred from entering this country? 
Her parents came here, worked hard and did well, (her father once stood as a UKIP candidate!) she herself has worked hard and done well.  Now it seems she is comfortable where she is, living in a peaceful, democratic country - not under a despotic regime.  How quickly some people forget their roots!

'My parents were kicked out of Uganda,' she said in an interview. 'They came to the UK with nothing, worked hard and set up a successful shop business.

'There was a desire to work hard and to be successful so you didn't have to rely on anybody else. Coming from a country where you're persecuted means that you want to work hard and to contribute to the society where you end up.'

'Nuff said methinks.


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## Alec Swan (26 April 2016)

A girl I once knew went off for a season lambing 'out' and in wales.  She witnessed badgers waiting until a ewe was lying down and lambing and they'd rush in and pull the lamb from the ewe and take it off.  I understand that the guy who owned the sheep would take a rifle with him and that he shot several badgers.  I'm assuming that if there are those animals which have a sporting 'season' (deer for instance),  and they are causing crop damage they can be shot out of season,  so logically badgers can be shot when they're also causing unacceptable damage.  That would be ideal,  but I doubt that's how it works.

The girl also said that her time in Wales was the most miserable and cold three months of her life!

As for foxes being taken from urban environments and dumped in the countryside,  assuming that it does in fact happen,  it would have us wonder at the thinking of those who carry out such stupidity,  if they truly understand the fox and if they even care.

Alec.


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## ycbm (26 April 2016)

hackneylass2 said:



			Judgemental.... not a rant as such, but although you have not covered most of my issues raised, I will reply to your one - which seems very much sauce for the goose, not!

'Ms Patel says she is well qualified to comment on the issue as the daughter of Indian immigrants of Gujarati origin who left Uganda shortly before Idi Amin expelled the Asian community.'

And I wonder what Ms Patel and her parents lives would have been like if they had been barred from entering this country? 
Her parents came here, worked hard and did well, (her father once stood as a UKIP candidate!) she herself has worked hard and done well.  Now it seems she is comfortable where she is, living in a peaceful, democratic country - not under a despotic regime.  How quickly some people forget their roots!

'My parents were kicked out of Uganda,' she said in an interview. 'They came to the UK with nothing, worked hard and set up a successful shop business.

'There was a desire to work hard and to be successful so you didn't have to rely on anybody else. Coming from a country where you're persecuted means that you want to work hard and to contribute to the society where you end up.'

'Nuff said methinks.
		
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Not quite.

First, she isn't saying we shouldn't have immigration. She's saying we shouldn't be stopped from talking about it. So none of your further comments are relevant.

At the time Priti's parents came here the population of Britain was seven million, more than ten per cent, lower than it is now.

Her parents were expelled, they did not choose to leave as many current migrants (not nearly all) have.

Uganda was a British Protectorate, we owed them.

We cannot take the poor of the whole world.


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## Judgemental (26 April 2016)

ycbm said:



			Not quite.

First, she isn't saying we shouldn't have immigration. She's saying we shouldn't be stopped from talking about it. So none of your further comments are relevant.

At the time Priti's parents came here the population of Britain was seven million, more than ten per cent, lower than it is now.

Her parents were expelled, they did not choose to leave as many current migrants (not nearly all) have.

Uganda was a British Protectorate, we owed them.

We cannot take the poor of the whole world.
		
Click to expand...

Exactly and lets be quite objective, Ms Patel is a extremely erudite person and would not be in the Government position she holds, unless she was very professional.

Now for a couple of predictions.

In my opinion the UK will vote to leave the EU. Cameron's absurd invitation on bended knee begging so I gather, President Obama to intervene is backfiring in many quarters.

I have no doubt that many who post on this Website and Forum will say, "I don't care whether folk are in or out of the EU but we will not tolerate being told how to vote by any other country".

That said, we have two months to go before the vote and amongst other things, the issue of very rich UK aristocratic landowners being paid Benefits i.e., the Single Farm Payment, which are intended for small peasant farms in southern European countries is slowly coming to the top of the pile.

Some years ago there was a documentary on the subject by Oliver Walston and The Guardian had an interesting piece in 2005 and little has changed 

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/mar/24/ruralaffairs.freedomofinformation

By Oliver Walston who said amongst other things at the start of his excellent piece:

"It is unjust, unreasonable and above all unintelligent for British farmers to insist that the subsidy cheque they receive each year is a private matter between themselves and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs". 

By the time the man or woman on the Clapham Omnibus has come to understand this absurd system in the next few weeks, you can bet your boots millions will vote OUT. In the event it is a vote to stay in the EU I believe just about all farm subsidies will be abolished for all but the very poorest 'peasant' UK farmers poor peasant farms in the UK, perish the though as I am cast into the verge by the next passing £80,000.00 Range Rover!

The second prediction is the matter of the result of the US election, I confidently predict that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States


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## hackneylass2 (5 May 2016)

'The second prediction is the matter of the result of the US election, I confidently predict that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States'

Which, if it does happen, will cause unimaginable turmoil! 

Whatever will we do regarding food? Many farmers need those subsidies. Though I agree that many do not. I don't know any poor farmers, although I do know a few who are struggling and have long ago ditched their Range Rovers...unless they have been round the clock!


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