“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
Therese Coffey, the woman who brought 2.4million hours of undiluted raw sewage discharge into our waterways, now brings us 36 toxic chemicals used in farming.
One of the great advantages of having cast of the restrictive shackles of the European Union, is that the Tory Party is now free to poison us in the pursuit of profit.
The privately owned water companies have polluted our waterways and beaches and now landowners are being allowed to contaminate the countryside with dangerous chemicals.
“UK fails to ban 36 harmful pesticides outlawed for use in the EU.” (Guardian: 13/09/23)
Do not be mistaken in thinking that the farming industry is a collection of small family businesses. They do exist, but the aristocracy and big agribusiness are the biggest owners of farmland.
The Farmers Weekly recently described Britain’s agricultural resources thus:
“Land is a finite resource, offering relatively stable, long-term growth, hedging (limiting financial risk) and wealth preservation opportunities…Greater profitability and stability attracted investors, both domestic and foreign, to UK land, replacing some of the more traditional landlords such as royalty and the church.” (Who Owns Britain's Farmland: 17/01/23)
It is interesting to note that food production in not mentioned once in connection with farmland. It is all about long-term investment and profitability. According to Farming Forum, the aristocracy owns 30% of UK farming land, big corporations own 18%, tycoons own 17% and 17.5% of farmland ownership is “unknown”. “Individual homeowners” own only 5% of farmland.
Could it be that once farmland is seen as an investment opportunity rather than a means to produce and secure the nations food supply in an environmentally sustainable way, that the safe and long-term stewardship of the land becomes subservient to maximising profits at any cost?
Whatever the answer to that question is, Britain is now being described as “the toxic poster child of Europe” because of our controversial pesticide policies.
The first job of any government is to protect its citizens, yet Therese Coffey is allowing the use of chemicals that are directly harmful to human health. 12 of the chemicals being allowed are classified as carciogens and cause cancer. 9 of the chemical can cause human birth defects, developmental disorders and infertility. 8 of the chemicals can adversely affect reproductive function and development in both adults and children, and one of the chemicals being authorised by Coffey is classified as “acutely toxic”, meaning a single exposure can have detrimental health effects, usually within 24 hours of exposure. (See Pesticide Action Network UK: UK Falling behind EU pesticide standards; 13/09/23)
