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April 28 ~ Were any lessons at all learned from the terrible FMD crisis of 2001? There will be a House of Commons debate tomorrow at which this question - and others - will be considered.

April 28 ~ Kofi Annan today appealed to all the parties in Iraq to refrain from violence, respect international humanitarian law and give the political transition a chance, saying it was time now for those who prefer "restraint and dialogue" to make their voices heard. UN News Centre

April 28 ~ The envoys call for authority to be given to the UN and pressure applied on America to curtail its military action Read the letter to Mr Blair from the 52 former ambassadors, high commissioners and governors See Iraq page

April 28 ~ U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded an $18 million grant (over £10 million pounds) to the University of California, Davis, and three partner institutions to establish a national centre for research into foot and mouth disease,avian influenza, Rift Valley fever and brucellosis. The centre will develop new methods for detecting, diagnosis and vaccination and will develop databases and models that will help assess potential disease threats to U.S. animal agriculture.

April 28 ~ Support for ID cards? "The most recent opinion poll shows a large majority in favour of a card but also indicated nearly 60% changing their minds if they would have to pay for the card – which they would. It also indicates over 50% having little faith in the Government’s ability to manage such a large data base." See today's page on responses to the ID card by various organisations, including the Liberal Democrats

April 28 ~ Following the granting of bail to prisoner "G" In the debate in the House of Lords yesterday, Baroness Scotland of Asthal (Hansard) moved Amendment No. 28A: the Government believe that there should be a mechanism to ensure that the law is applied correctly. Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government: "Whether, following comments by the Home Secretary on the release of an Algerian man suspected of having terrorist links, criticism by Ministers of the Crown of decisions of the courts in cases to which they are party is an attack on the rule of law....Would he look favourably on an amendment to Clause 1 of his Constitutional Reform Bill to make it clear that his duty and that of any successor will be not only to guarantee judicial independence but to secure and maintain the rule of law?" See also democracy page

April 27 ~"... nobody in their right mind would say yes to a "constitution" 300-odd pages long, written and cross-referenced in a manner beyond the comprehension of the average MP - let alone the average member of the public, who would need to take a few months off work and sign up for lessons in Euro-speak to get to the bottom of it." Gillian Swanson has written to Chris Patten

April 27 ~ The frustration and disappointment expressed by Jo White, Campaigns Manager at the ILPH makes for sad reading today.

April 27 ~ "...the legal precedent that an administration can define justice to suit its needs would be a crisis greater than terrorism" says the editor of the Palm Beach Post today. See democracy page

April 27 ~ "The other issue that Blair is being taxed upon even as I speak is whether he has a shred of evidence that his "close" relationship with the Americans is actually yielding any results at all. " Jon Snow in the Channel 4 update. Meanwhile, the news from Fallujah and from Najaf this evening is grim indeed.

April 27 ~ "Sir David King has described (global warming) as a greater threat to the world than international terrorism..." says the Washington Times today on the subject of Mr Blair's "Climate Group". See also George Monbiot on global warming.

April 26 ~ OIE "The mass killing of animals applied during the foot and mouth disease crisis in 2001 in Europe and during the recent avian influenza epidemic in South East Asia when more than 100 million birds either died or were destroyed has posed considerable ethical, technical, ecological and economic problems....Dr. Bernard Vallat said that this situation was no longer acceptable either to the international scientific community or to the public at large "

April 26 ~ ".. farmlands rendered useless, acute economic difficulties and chronic health problems" still happening today, 18 years after Chernobyl.

April 26 ~ From "The Best Kept Secret in Washington" "... Muslim nations will soon control virtually all of the world’s oil exports. Since neither capital nor labor can create energy, the next round of energy-shortage-induced stagflation will leave central bankers helpless and they will seek military solutions to their economic problems. It's the best-kept secret in Washington, Whitehall, Brussels, and Jerusalem, but it's just a matter of time until word hits the street…" See"peak oil" crisis.

April 26 ~ Tackling big problems such as climate change.. requires an understanding of small details. It cites how attempts to control the spread of Bovine tuberculosis by culling badgers backfired, causing a 27 per cent increase in the disease in cattle in culling areas, possibly because the cull had affected the intricacies of badger behaviour in a way not yet fully comprehended. See Independent

April 26 ~ We'll always have Parris . Here, he says, "..away with your false dichotomies, Mr Blair. When it comes to the really big question about Europe, it isn’t “yes” or “no”, it’s “yes”, “no” — or “whatever”. Britain will vote “no” and mean whatever. Thank you, Prime Minister for the wake-up call, but we had noticed that the European question was unresolved, and we intend to keep it that way."

April 26 ~ Alan Beat's book. Please note revised information about ordering the book.

April 25 ~ ".... neatly reversing the vicious circle in which modern society had previously trapped us.."
"A Start in Smallholding" by Alan Beat is unputdownable. In 22 highly readable, honest, often wry but always delightful chapters, he describes his determination to make the transition from townie to countryman - a feat which he, his wife Rosie and the family have achieved to the point where they are now an inspiration and source of education to many others. (See his website www.smallholders.org from which the book may be ordered) Extract from the book.

April 25 ~ The annual profits of HRH Prince Charles' Duchy Originals are likely to be above £1 million this year.See report in the ( Telegraph) "All the proceeds go to the Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation which, in turn, supports a range of charities. This year's profits will take the total given by Duchy Originals to charitable causes to more than £3.5 million."
For this very high profile support for sustainable, humane farming, and for his deep concern for the rural community, many of us have reason to be grateful to Prince Charles.

April 25 ~ One of the stories in Booker's Notebook concerns possible GMO's in bird food "... Last week, therefore, in accordance with an edict from Brussels, the Government put into force a new law, on a not-unimportant issue, which it seems the Government has no way of enforcing. Yet if a fisherman is found using a wood-and-rope ladder, instead of the slippery, all-plastic, unsafe version required by EC regulations, our officials have no hesitation in threatening him with a £5,000 fine."

April 24 ~ ID cards. The Earl of Selborne, chairman of the Royal Society's science in society committee said: "There has been a lack of public debate and there is a very real danger that we are sleepwalking into our technological future."..."most of the 1,000 people questioned by MORI expressed doubts the cards could be introduced without problems." BBC

April 24 ~ Peak Oil? "It's not that the oil will run out but that the ability to extract the oil economically will not be there...." is the understated view of Alan Booth, president of the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association in this BBC report from Thursday. For a riveting account of what the oil crash actually means in terms of food and water prices see Life After the Crash.com (in spite of the website's dramatic appearance the tone and content of the articles is impressive.)

April 24 ~ On the same subject, John Pearson has sent this email "I don’t wish to alarm your readers but it’s no use burying our heads in the sand."

April 24 ~ "I am grateful to Defra Minister Ben Bradshaw, who has been extremely constructive. The point is that for thousands of people living in the area this pit has been not just a physical scar, but also an emotional scar..." WMN on the future of Ashmoor Pit.

April 23 ~ "David Blunkett has said he will change the law ..." (See democracy page Mr Blunkett is furious that he lost his legal bid to stop the suspected Algerian terrorist "G" who suffers from polio and who has become mentally ill from his open-ended incarceration, being released on bail) He is just the man to do it. A line from Robert Bolt's "A Man for all Seasons" occurs:

April 23 ~ "estimates of global oil reserves may be dangerously exaggerated....As the world's natural resources shrink and global warming changes the environment, competition for unimpeded access to them has intensified and will continue to do so. About four-fifths of the world's known oil reserves lie in politically unstable or contested regions..." Jane's.com "World oil crisis looms" - and as an emailer says, "Well it must be official if Jane's are worried!"
And as George Monbiot wrote in December, "the resource upon which our lives have been built is running out. We don't talk about it because we cannot imagine it. This is a civilisation in denial.."

April 23 ~ "In its own consultation document, the Government predicts we will spend £2 billion in the next 10 years not curing bovine TB." Owen Paterson was replying to Ben Bradshaw's "cheap swipe" of suggesting that taxpayers' money had been wasted by his tabling of 450 questions. See article in the Shropshire Star. The most astonishing thing is that Ben Bradshaw said the cost of answering r Paterson's questions was an estimated £60,750. Can anyone explain this?

April 23 ~ China has today confirmed two cases of SARS and isolated two patients with symptoms of the virus.

April 23 ~ "The Government must now act to dispel the impression that there has been a cover-up by opening itself up to a truly independent inquiry into foot and mouth" says Theresa May (WMN)

April 23 ~ .... the birthday of William Shakespeare. We could use a hero to fight the various dragons and vicious worms that threaten the country, the countryside and the liberties for which England has stood. In the absence of heroes, we'd better stiffen our sinews, summon up our blood and imitate the actions of the tiger ourselves.
Happy St George's Day.

April 23 ~ If you can get to the the auction mart pub, the Hired Lad, near Penrith on Friday May 14th 2004. make a note in your diary. The speaker at the open meeting on the future of farming is Owen Paterson, followed by a question and answer session. See front page (thanks to Elli Logan for this)

April 23 ~ "George Bush’s radical foreign policy is not going undiscussed. The bull may be crashing about the china shop, but Americans are meticulously plotting its path. This is democracy at work. Nothing is left to secrecy. Everyone talks. Public policy is for public debate. And it is debated in that most decorous of mediums, the book.
Back home, Britons characteristically wait in dutiful silence. Lord Butler of Brockwell is considering what they should be told of the war in which their soldiers are dying, when he is ready. I cannot imagine what his lordship will find that is not already stacked sky high in Barnes & Noble, 5th Avenue." Simon Jenkins on the "groaning cliff of Iraq books" in America. (See Iraq page) "The combined blast of these books makes Britain’s Hutton inquiry look like a peashooter."

April 23 ~ Euro MPs have voted to mount a legal challenge to a controversial counter-terrorism deal with America yesterday, defying warnings that the move threatens chaos for transatlantic air travellers and airlines. See Independent yesterday.

April 23 ~ Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911", a documentary about the "the murky relationship" between former President George Bush (snr) and Osama bin Laden's family, has been selected by the Cannes Film Festival to premiere there in competition next month "The senior Bush kept his ties with the bin Laden family up until two months after Sept. 11," said Moore. "People are now realizing you can question your government while still caring about the soldiers," he says. Michael Moore website

April 22 ~ David Blunkett has lost his legal bid to stop the suspected Algerian terrorist "G" who suffers from polio and who has become mentally ill from his open-ended incarceration, being released on bail. The Special Immigration Appeal Commission upheld its ruling that "G" should be kept under house arrest instead. The Home Office has now announced that it is tabling amendments to the asylum legislation at present going through parliament to give the Crown statutory right of appeal. If successful it will be able to overrule SIAC in future.
Deputy Mayor of London and Green Party MP Jenny Jones told the rally outside Belmarsh prison at the beginning of April that it was a "complete injustice" that people should be held without trial in a country which prided itself on its democracy and justice system. See democracy page

April 22 ~ An emailer writes, "According to the Scotsman today, DEFRA and the Home Office will be forming a new agency to cope with the fall-out from a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack..."the agency would offer advice on a range of attacks." So that's all right then. We are in safe hands. They will be telling us exactly what we can do..."

April 22 ~ "Safety" again. WMN has two articles today about the "ridiculous" red tape and overbearing safety rules which are strangling ferries of all sizes - including a canal ferry. Anthony Steen, Conservative MP for Totnes: "There seems to be an insistence on operators using so much safety equipment there's very little room left for the passengers." A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: "The rules have been put together by the MCA for reasons of public safety," refuting any suggestion that laws had been handed down by Brussels. ..."
(However, the MCA was fully aware when compiling its regulations for fishing vessels that "... The United Kingdom would also be in breach of a responsibility to implement Council Directive 93/103/EC, if the technical requirements were not applied by statute, including “regular checks” to ensure compliance with the Directive.")

April 22 ~ The EFRA Committee's decision to investigate bovine TB for the third time in five years: (see front page).
The Western Morning News quotes Anthony Gibson :"What we need is tough cattle-movement regulations, coupled with action to stop TB spreading in wildlife. We know that effective control of diseased badgers leads to a significant decrease in the spread of bovine TB in herds." - but.. "Shadow Agriculture, Minister Owen Paterson, said he welcomed the announcement, expecting "interesting evidence" to come from research in Ireland where badgers are culled in TB hot-spot areas. He stressed that the Government should be taking immediate action. "It would be nice to wait for a vaccine, but we are being told a vaccine is still ten years away. Ten years ago, we were being told the very same thing," he said..." WMN

April 22 ~ "At a time when trust in Government politicians is at an all-time low, why is the answer to create yet more bureaucrats, more regulations and more politicians?" asked Caroline Spelman, MP yesterday. See democracy page

April 22 ~ "an internal investigation had cleared officials of deliberately misleading the "lessons learned" inquiry, chaired by Dr Iain Anderson, when they blocked the submission of a report by government vet Jim Dring." WMN - and all devotees of Yes Prime Minister will understand the significance of the word "internal" in Mrs Beckett's written reply to Andrew George and the quotation marks around "in the clear" in the WMN article's headline. (Read the WMN article in full) Mr George, MP for St Ives, said that public confidence had been so damaged by the handling of Mr Dring's report that an independent investigation was now needed... "A large section of the farming community simply do not trust the Government on this. ...." See Dring case

April 22 ~ An emailer writes, "Live movements. That is what this is really all about. Continuing live movements through borders and overseas. Live movements that can and do carry disease with them. A lot of people are absolutely determined to continue such movements at all costs. Four days at sea and eight on a lorry is absolutely ridiculous. Unnecessary, cruel and dangerous. "

April 22 ~ Received this morning "I received an email from maryatwarmwell@hotmail.com, subject "unknown" with attachment. I haven't opened it because it looks suspicious. Did you send it?" The answer is NO. Warmwell does not send attachments. Please be aware of this menace. The warmwell computer is heavily (and daily) guarded against viruses and these messages are not coming from here.

April 22 ~ Received this morning: "I just wondered if you were aware of the UK Independence Party (www.ukip.org). I have been a member for the past few years. We have several local councillors and 3 MEPs - and are hoping to increase those numbers on June 10th. We have 18,000 members, and many more supporters - but the media ignore us (deliberately?). In Shropshire we have been out most week ends inviting people to sign the Referendum on the Constitution petition - and had at least 3,000 signatures in just half the County. People thank us for what we are doing."

April 22 ~ Wildlife Information Network is warning owners that horses travelling to and from the US are increasingly likely to come in contact with West Nile Virus. WNV can infect birds, horses and humans and is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes. It can cause encephalitis or meningitis.

April 22 ~ "the Government has, inadvertently I think, introduced a perverse incentive in the way they are implementing the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. "Unless growers grub up their orchards by the end of the year then they will lose forever the ability to claim money for them as agricultural land..." Lib-Dem MP David Heath said that orchard owners were facing a "perverse incentive" from the Government that would offer them payments for managing their land - but only if they dug up their trees. WMN

April 21 ~ The bombs that went off during this morning's rush hour in Basra killed at least 68 with 200 or more wounded. Two vans carrying schoolchildren were destroyed, one carrying kindergarten age children, the other carrying middle-school girls. Dead children, burned beyond recognition, were taken to hospital morgues.
The BBC continues to refer to numbers of "insurgents killed" in its news reports from Iraq.

April 21 ~ Tony Blair has rejected a challenge from the Conservative leader, Michael Howard, to hold a live televised debate on the EU constitution. Guardian

April 21 ~ Archbishop Rowan Williams says that the "political health" of the country has suffered in the aftermath of the war and that owning up to mistakes might restore trust. See democracy page. Owning up to mistakes? While there may be talk of "lessons learned", legislation to preclude challenge and to increase central control is quietly introduced. Trust is now in very short supply indeed. The greatest danger of all is that we take refuge in cynicism and give up responsibility.

April 21 ~ The NFU in Scotland (see Scotsman about the dangers involved in tagging young calves) are questioning the sense of the new FSA rule about clipping before slaughter.
The "safety" required by the Food Standards Agency - who perhaps have not thought through the implications of removing mud and dung from the underside of a bull - is at the expense of farmers' safety - not to mention increased stress for the poor old cattle. One emailer writes, "... "Safety" has become a political football; its meaning obscured by the various bureaucrats who control our lives with exaggerated fears. If only they could all just shut up and go away..."

April 20 ~ Those who challenge the old mind sets may be easily dismissed by the lordly few who sit in scientific ivory towers. But just as Mark Purdey may be on the right lines about BSE, it is surely not impossible that Colonel Danny Goodwin Jones could be right about the relationship between the soil and bovine TB. He says "....copper and selenium interact very precisely. Without sufficient selenium, available copper becomes ‘locked up’ and therefore not available to the cow. ....selenium is extremely sensitive to sulphur......Cows producing 30 litres a day need a minimum copper intake of 163 mg to maintain themselves in peak physical condition. Selenium intake of just 2.5 mg is essential.” In this latest EFRA investigation (see front page) such ideas may at least be examined.

April 20 ~ 1 in 5 of the UK's adult population is affected by arthritis. 284 Members of Parliament signed EDM220 last year, which called on the government to make arthritis a health priority. It is 2004 now and the government has still not heeded this call. Dr Roger Berry MP has tabled a new EDM calling on the government to develop a UK-wide strategy for dealing with arthritis. It would be the work of a moment to fax your MP asking for the EDM to be supported or use the Arthritis Care org's email form. Very many thanks indeed to those who take the trouble to do this.

April 20 ~ "...The House and Members of Parliament are here to protect Britain's liberties, not sell them down the river. That is why we in Castle Point compiled a petition to force the spin-obsessed Government to listen to the people. Hundreds of Castle Point people of all political persuasions queued up in all weathers to sign it. Bob Spink's petition was laid before Parliament last night.

April 20 ~ "The Minister talks about public consultation, and we would all welcome that provided that what the public say is occasionally listened to and acted on..." said Andrew Selous during yesterday's debate on the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill. (See democracy page. Local people are no longer allowed to voice concerns locally about local planning proposals) But one begins to wonder how far even elected Members of Parliament are wasting their breath when they argue so cogently and well against further centralisation.

April 20 ~ "Wind technology is third-rate, inefficient, unreliable, intermittent, grotesquely imposing and achieves the very opposite of that which is intended. We are being failed by our politicians, who cannot see beyond the "green" chimera of a few whirling pale intruders traversing our countryside, killing our birds, deterring tourists and making the power companies very rich at our expense.
And all the while, power reserves run down, the best technical minds in the country give clear and unambiguous advice of the unpardonable folly of it all, and our leaders choose to take no notice." See latest article on the windfarms page by John Campbell QC -or read the article in full here.

April 20 ~ "The British will not vote for a government of bureaucrats, by bureaucrats, for bureaucrats." See democracy page and William Rees-Mogg's article today in the Times

April 20 ~ Channel 4 News BAFTA award - "a mark of international recognition for programme’s foreign coverage over the past year and was dedicated to Channel 4 News’ Gaby Rado and all the other journalists who lost their lives covering the conflict."

April 19 ~ ".... It is also believed that intervention in the motor speech area of his cortex now enables Mr Blair to describe Iraqis who respond negatively to having their houses blown up as "fanatics, extremists and terrorists". ..." Terry Jones in today's Guardian.

April 19 ~ "The BBC governors were attacked from the stage (of the Bafta awards) for failing to back Mr Dyke over the Hutton Report. Paul Abbott, who won the Dennis Potter Award for outstanding writing in television, said Mr Dyke was “one in a million”. The writer of State of Play, Shameless and Clocking Off said: “I still can’t believe that we as investors in the BBC allowed such a guv’nor to get ousted by a handful of the least qualified people in the industry.” The Times

April 19 ~ Words very gratefully received in an email from Chris this morning "...blow the cobwebs out of your system. Remember "we are born with the gift of laughter, being serious is something we learn"... :-))" Yes. It is time to restore and update the Light Relief page

April 19 ~ ".... nuts and bolts practical and deeply personal……..political Viagra for anyone tired of feeling hopeless, helpless and impotent in the face of our Big Money/Big Media controlled political system" is how “50 Ways to Love Your Country” the recently released political activist guide compiled by Moveon.org is described. It has reached the bestseller list on amazon.com

April 19 ~ Words very gratefully received in an email from Chris this morning "...blow the cobwebs out of your system. Remember "we are born with the gift of laughter, being serious is something we learn"... :-))" Yes. It is time to restore and update the Light Relief page

April 19 ~ ".... the cause of such necessary openness is not helped by off-the-record briefings to newspapers and a series of nods and winks to selected individuals." Charles Kennedy reported by ITV news on the EU constitution question.

April 18 ~ Blair wrote: “Too often in the past, change has been initiated in ignorance of the risks, and of what might be done to deal with them."...but the headline to this story in the Sunday Times is "Blair blames ministers for policy gaffes"...

April 18 ~ Booker's Notebook for Sunday 18th April. Devon villagers to fight them on the beaches, MEPs' rebellion threatens vote, The 10cm of God, The train to absurdity

April 17 ~ "The FMD virus causes less than 1% mortality, but the government's response causes 100% mortality. In the post 9/11 world, we are forced to develop an alternative to depopulation. We simply can not kill livestock faster than terrorists can infect them with FMD virus." A sane response to the threat from the FMD virus - explained in simple terms for us by Prof Joe Cummins. See also technical page

April 17 ~ "....they are condemned as "appeasers" by the Bush regime and its craven journalists when they complain that their husbands and wives and sons did not deserve to die.
...If Mr Sharon is "historic" and "courageous", then the murderers of Hamas and Islamic Jihad will be able to claim the same. Mr Bush legitimised "terrorism" this week - and everyone who loses a limb or a life can thank him for his yellow streak. And, I fear, they can thank Mr Blair for his cowardice too." Robert Fisk

April 17 ~ How "the best available scientific information" is now (sadly) viewed by many can be gauged from this email from Roger about sudden oak death.

April 17 ~ "The future for our farming lies in selling as much as possible of our production into markets where it keeps its identity and can earn a fair reward for its quality and provenance. The pub, restaurant and hotel market is absolutely crucial, and the simple fact is that we have made bigger inroads into that market in the two-and-a-half years that the Buy Local campaign has been running than we had in the previous ten." Anthony Gibson in the WMN editorial. Thanks for this - and other links - to Roger.

April 16 ~ "The Tenant Farmers Association is working with Liberal Democrat Rural Affairs spokesman Andrew George to gather evidence to show that the current voluntary Supermarket Code of Practice should be scrapped in favour of a statutory code backed by an industry regulator." See The Journal (On March 16, Andrew George and David Drew launched an early day motion calling for a legally binding code of practice and a supermarket watchdog. But remarked George Monbiot, in this article, ".. Tony Blair seems to be as frightened of the superstores as he is of the tabloid press.")

April 16 ~ Another windfarm protest tonight. A "grant" of £10,000 has been offered in rather vague terms if the application goes through- very reminiscent of the "windfalls" (or bribes) offered by supermarkets to local residents. Professor Peter Cobbold thinks the application could be the thin end of the wedge, "What makes us suspicious is that the proposed access road is too long for the five turbines being proposed." While alternative forms of energy are vital, the new windfarm business is very big business indeed. It has been described as one of the "great self-deceiving fantasies of our age". See windfarm page

April 16 ~ "The EU gave its blessing on Thursday to the 10 mostly ex-communist states due to enter the bloc to sell food products across the expanded region, removing fears they might be excluded from lucrative markets for failing to meet EU food safety standards" Reuters

April 16 ~ "Rural Focus is now firmly established as the leading newsletter for decision-makers in rural Britain..." says its editor, who offers a sample copy (first come first served) to interested readers of warmwell.

April 15 ~WMN keeps up the horse export pressure "...Mr Michael, and his colleague Secretary of State for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Margaret Beckett, have now promised to re-examine the case for an opt-out, in readiness for their crucial negotiations in Luxembourg on April 26 and 27, which represents the last time to secure legal protection for equines for the foreseeable future." See horse export page

April 15 ~ "So now we know that some opinions are more important than others to the Government. Can we expect the result of the next general election to be interpreted according to the “widespread interests” of the individual voters?" Robert Persey's letter about DEFRA's novel interpretation of the word "majority" is published in the Times today

April 15 ~ Sudden oak death -". the National Farmers' Union has taken up cases of nurserymen who could suffer as a result of restrictions on the movement of susceptible plants and foliage. It is backing a test case by one grower against Defra over the non-payment of compensation, which is provided for in law but has never been paid out before in the case of an outbreak of plant disease." Telegraph

April 14 ~ 3 million eggs from intensive systems eaten every day in the UK could contain residues of lasalocid, an antibiotic that is not even licensed for use in egg-laying birds. Tests on eggs by the government's Veterinary Medicines Directorate show residues were found in 12% of samples last year, up from 1% in 1999. Lasalocid is regarded by the government as a food additive; no "safe" limits have been fixed on residues. See Guardian

April 14 ~ "...Mr Blair should see Robert McNamara’s film, The Fog of War, during his stay in Washington. It demonstrates what happens when a leader’s wishful thinking loses all touch with reality in a distant war. Military history is full of chateau generals compounding their mistakes by taking intravenous optimism. They send ever more troops “over the top”, pleading no alternative and no surrender..." Simon Jenkins in the Times

April 14 ~ According to Channel 4 news, the word is that John Negroponte will replace Mr Bremer in Iraq. Mr Negroponte was the US Ambassador to the UN who said:

See US Department of State in November 2002. How much credence may be given to Mr Negroponte can be gauged by the fact that - among other things - he is said to have given his support for the systematic forced disappearances used to destroy Honduran civilian opposition to the presence of Contra bases in their country.

April 14 ~ "It’s going to happen out of the view of the world, out of sight of the media, because most of the media in Falluja is embedded with the marines or turned away at the outskirts. Before we can pass the message on, two explosions scatter the crowd in the side street back into their houses. ..." Jo Wilding in Fallujah gives another perspective. See Iraq page

April 14 ~ "Lord Strathclyde, the Conservative leader in the Lords, said yesterday that they would fight any move to weaken the Lords’ powers" Times

April 13 ~ Jonathan Porrit has condemned the government's policies on sustainability, saying politicians were in a "state of delusion" over the threat facing the planet. See Guardian

April 13 ~".... farmers, are in a situation where they are semi-retired but are back working because they have had to lay the farm hand off and they haven't got time to trawl through the paperwork. I hope something does come out of the Haskins review and makes the whole thing simpler. Sometimes you are applying for ten different schemes. If you could make one application it would be so much better." Dr Angela Cott, who runs the Severn Vyrnwy Project aimed at helping farmers and rural businesses to access funding more easily, quoted in the Birmingham Post.

April 13 ~"..this is precisely what the Lords is there for: to prevent a government with a temporary majority from making massive and permanent changes to Britain’s constitution without a mandate from the people." Tony Blair is planning to use a new version of the Parliament Act to curb the power of the House of Lords. Telegraph comment on Democracy pages

April 13 ~ The arguments with which the US and UK governments justify their present policies are a cause for distress among those of us who are relatively new to reading further than the "subservience of the press" (Robert Fisk) and who have strong ties to America - but read the much respected Robert Fisk (Independent) for a clear-headed, first-hand knowledge of the Iraq situation. See also how some pro-war commentators have not only changed their tune but even pretended the tune was always the same. Iraq pages

April 13 ~ "The changes I am announcing are interim measures to modernise the schemes and ensure they comply with EU state aid regulations." (How fond politicians are of the word "I") said Deputy Scottish Rural Affairs Minister Allan Wilson when he announced last week the 100 year old bull hire and ram purchase schemes within the crofting counties would come to an end. Sandy Clark, the Highlands and Islands representative for the British Veterinary Association, says the move is a disaster for disease control in the area. He said: "It is going to put us back in the Dark Ages and goes against all the moves to promote livestock health in the Highlands and Islands." See Press and Journal

April 13 ~ Hilary Peters' latest ediary entry ( from Norfolk this month) says of the HISTORY OF FARMING EXHIBITION "A must for anyone who wants to understand how we got where we are. It goes from pre-history to steam. Voices from the past have the same arguments we are having today. In the mid-nineteenth century, John Hudson, a tenant farmer in Castle Acre, was saying “anything that intensifies production must be worthwhile” and Clare Sewell Read, another Norfolk farmer and an MP, was saying productivity should not be our only priority. (And I thought Ben Gill invented the word productivity.) The arguments are the same now. The difference is technology. The great eighteenth century landscapers were called the Lords of Creation. Now we really can control creation. The trouble is we don’t seem to be up to the job." Read the latest entry or the rest of the diary in full

April 12 ~ The first identity cards seen in Britain since the Second World War are to start replacing passports from March 2007. The Director of Liberty told the Home Affairs Select Committee ".. .....to create a single national compulsory identifier creates a shift in the relationship between the individual and the state, so that in fact you are required to identify yourself or to be called to account whether in practice and in an individual circumstance it is justified or not. .... Germany has an ID card but also an incredibly strong law of privacy. We go for the ID card without the strong law of privacy... " Read the uncorrected minutes of oral evidence in full

April 12 ~ The IPLH, in its briefing to Ministers, said ""The new European rules will not be good enough when you consider that there is no export trade at all from the UK now. In short, the rules will make a bad situation on the Continent a bit better. They must not be an excuse to make a good situation in Britain into a bad one." See full debate on horse exports

April 11 ~ "Mr Blair took charge of foot-and-mouth not so much because Nick Brown had lost control of the outbreak, but because he had lost control of the media strategy for handling it.." comment from icTeesside on the fact that " Prime Minister appears to revel in the idea that he, and only he, can sort out all the problems facing the country."

April 11 ~ Booker's Notebook includes the latest daft plan to apply Health and Safety rules to rock-climbing, distressing news that the UK continues to back policy to evict Bushmen - " in their best interest", says Baroness Symons - from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve - promised to them inperpetuity, the holidays taken by Mrs Beckett and Mr Bradshaw as British Agriculture sinks further into the mire and the crazy proliferation of traffic signs in villages - the costs of which are not being revealed by Councils who boast of their "transparency"

April 9 ~ "The clever use of language invites the mind to an interpretation beyond the words used." These are the words of Dr Brian Jones (Hutton Inquiry - he suggested that not a single defence intelligence expert backed Tony Blair's most contentious claims on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction) about the strangely opportune story of the "foiled terror gas attack" on London..(the dangerous-sounding material had not actually been obtained) (See Iraq/Terror) but how apposite is the sentence also to the hype surrounding the unusual form of scrapie...and much more.

April 10 ~ "DEFRA to retreat on carbon reduction by relaxing the ambitious carbon-reduction targets that will be imposed on UK industry under the European Union's emissions-trading scheme" says the Financial Times - but DEFRA missed the March 31 deadline by which they should have submitted their plans for cutting carbon dioxide emissions to the EU Commission. The FT does not mention this nor the fact that the UK is unlikely to escape a Commission infringement letter, which is basically a warning that legal action is pending.

April 9 - ~ "Based on our extensive experience throughout the world, Prionics and Roche recommend the Prionics(R)-Check WESTERN test, based on the Western Blot technique, to be used for the U.S. BSE surveillance program," See page

April 8 ~ Warmwell is intending to take a short break, attending to batteries that have become negatively charged. If you are in the same state, then, in addition to Moira's book, please do read Hilary Peters' March diary entries from Suffolk. Her practical approach includes talking things through with the food producers she visits : ".... the small mixed farm which was the norm in Suffolk fifty years ago is virtually extinct. The interesting question is where do we go from here. It isn’t all bad news..
....It’s hard to explain to an industrial farmer what is the connection between such far-flung subjects as animal welfare, good food, conservation, education. If you go to Pannington Hall Farm and see the Essex pigs, you will understand. It’s a different mind-set from “productivity”. It’s also extremely successful, but financial success is a by-product of getting all the other things right."

April 8 ~ Moira Linaker's book "Behind Chained Gates" (see below)
Roger writes, "Amazon take 4 - 5 weeks and charge a lot for the pleasure. I have got hold of the publisher Hayloft http://www.hayloft.org.uk/Books/Yows_Cows/Cows___Yows/Behind_Chained_Gates/behind_chained_gates.html - where you can order over the good old telephone - 017683 41568. They do not have credit card facilities, but include an invoice with the book which will be posted shortly. The lady I spoke to seemed absolutely charming and delighted. She said that Moira is "an inspiration to us all". Something that we all agree with I think. Lets hope that we can all keep the printers / publishers busy. (The photographs on Moira's website are beautiful.)"

April 8 ~ Rapid diagnosis test. Are others puzzled by the reference in the Scotsman story to rapid diagnosis? "The VLA and other EU laboratories with expertise in scrapie-like diseases have now applied rapid diagnostic methods. It appears that, although the case does not appear to resemble previously recognised cases of scrapie, it has some characteristics similar to experimental BSE in sheep." Were the rapid diagnosis tests used "validated"? Can someone explain why it is acceptable to use such tests in this case and not when testing for vFMD?

April 8 ~ Scrapie. More detail (from the Independent) : "The four-year-old animal was thought to have developed scrapie, a brain disorder that affects sheep and is believed to be harmless to humans. It died in January and its brain was tested by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) in Weybridge, Surrey, as part of a national programme to determine whether BSE has become endemic in sheep. Two of the three tests were negative for BSE but the third gave "some characteristics" that were similar to experimental BSE in sheep"
We note too the more cautious tone of today's Scotsman "...This disease has been tenuously connected with BSE in cattle and, by implication, with variant CJD in the human population."

April 7 ~ Moira Linaker's book "Behind Chained Gates" (see amazon.co.uk) is a splendid read. Where one might expect a dark and bleak account it is, instead, an extraordinarily joyful account of much loved animals - and how she fought tooth and nail to keep them safe. All the same, throughout the book there are wry and wise comments about the darkness and bleakness of the policies that made Cumbria resemble a frightening war zone in 2001. Fully aware that MAFF was thought to be using the crisis to reduce sheep numbers she used all the resources she could find to make a stand. One unforgettable moment is her dawning realisation of one SVS vet's total incompetence to take a simple blood test (covering himself and the unfortunate sheep with blood). The fury with which this diminutive warrior made him beat a very hasty retreat is both funny and satisfying.
Unashamedly delighted by the different personalities of her animals, Moira Linaker has qualities that make her more than a hobby smallholder and it was surely these that brought her to the special notice of the Prince of Wales when he arrived to give his personal support to the stricken county. Readers of this website should find, in this really very heart warming story, both justification and solace for their continuing anger at what happened.

April 7 ~ pictures of Moira and her flock can be seen here http://www.instinct-training.co.uk/eden-flock/news.htm on Julian Thurgood's website.

April 7 ~ Read again Scandalous scaremongering brings no cheer " what was it all about? The cynics amongst us might suggest it was simply scientists keeping themselves in jobs by persuading the Government to award lucrative research contracts. One of the main beneficiaries, Prof John Collinge of St Mary's, Paddington, keeps suggesting that he will soon clinch the evidence if the Government continue his project injecting massive amounts of BSE prions into the brains of mice..."

April 7 ~ "New" scrapie. As one emailer says, "Hmmmm"
On the day that The Scotsman runs an article warning that farmers may not be reporting scrapie and including the easily misread sentence: "scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy similar to BSE in cattle that has been linked with more than 130 cases of the fatal human variant CJD" and the day following the article in The Journal enthusiastically describing the NSP as a "new" scheme, the VLA has informed DEFRA, the Devolved Administrations and the Food Standards Agency that a type of scrapie not previously seen in the UK has been seen( in one four-year-old sheep in an unnamed area of the UK.) (See Fwi and the Scotsman)
The DEFRA press release today is extraordinarily reminsicent of the story in the Guardian for November 27, 2003 about possibly flawed testing suggesting a new strain of scrapie. There are many questions surrounding the NSP and its raison d'etre Even DEFRA is currently engaged on a project to address concerns about it.

April 7 ~ David Oakes, who will be remembered by many for his selfless energy and love of animals during 2001, asks that this notice be put on warmwell.

April 7 ~ WMN today notes that Ben Bradshaw "was under fire last night after jetting off for a foreign holiday as a major report into the "shambles" of the Government's £35 million bovine TB policy was published." Andrew George has said that the report highlighted the need for an interim policy to deal with bovine TB before the so-called Krebs trials finish and must not be used to delay research into a vaccine for cattle.

April 7 ~ GM cattle feed is still being imported into the UK today. At the moment the only way to guarantee milk is from animals not fed GMOs is to buy organic or buy from Marks and Spencer - the only supermarket to get rid of GM feed from their milk. Soil Association

April 7 ~ Fallen Stock - Owen Paterson asked what provisions had been made for the disposal of fallen sheep during the current lambing season, in the absence of the Fallen Stock Subscription Scheme and what advice (Margaret Beckett) gives to farmers who are banned from burying fallen stock on their land by the Animal By-Products Regulation 1774/2002/EC and who have no other means of disposal.
Mr. Bradshaw: "The Government are not obliged to provide a National scheme under the Animal By-Products Regulations, nor is one an essential pre-requisite to farmers being able to dispose of their livestock in a legitimate manner. Farmers are expected to make use of existing local outlets for the disposal of fallen stock i.e. knacker yards, hunt kennels and maggot farms, use on-farm incinerators or make arrangements directly with rendering or incineration plants. However, we have asked local authorities to look sympathetically at individual cases where farmers have made every effort to comply but have faced genuine difficulties in doing so."
Is "look sympathetically" code for trying to enforce this nonsense is going to lead to even more problems?

April 7 ~ We read with some amusement the answer to the PQ about a department's website costs - the basic website run by the Department for "Education and Skills", for example, cost £1,900,000 last year. Warmwell, updated every day, costs the taxpayer a little less than that. (ie nothing).

April 7 ~ ".... little of the billions of dollars of aid, meant to underpin the move to democracy, can be spent, let alone enjoyed by ordinary Iraqis. By routing all contracts through the Pentagon, America is spending six dollars to get one on the ground. Had this money gone direct to Iraqis, work would have been done and people might have appreciated it. Military failure in Iraq may be painful; political and economic failure is abject. " Read Simon Jenkins and see Iraq page

April 7 ~ "Things are getting very bad and they're going to get worse," a special forces officer said close to the airport yesterday. "But no one is saying that - either because they don't know or because they don't want you to know." Robert Fisk in Baghdad on the brink of anarchy. See Iraq page

April 7 ~ The United States has secretly flown Saddam Hussein out of Iraq and imprisoned him under high security at a vast American air base in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Independent (subscription)

April 7 ~ Whats yours is Mine..."Mining giant Rio Tinto will face tough questions at its AGM today, Wednesday 7th April on the company's plans to develop an ilmenite mine on the island of Madagascar, threatening a unique and precious ecosystem which is home to a number of endangered species. The company is due to make a decision on the plans in the coming year." says Friends of the Earth (Read George Monbiot on why battles over the environment are among the few that the world's dissident movements are winning.)

April 6 ~ Old scheme in lamb's clothing. The National Scrapie Plan was described confidently in the Journal today as "A new scheme to eradicate scrapie from sheep flocks......NSP type 2, 3, 4 and 5 rams and type 4 and 5 females - will be culled and replaced over a period of up to four years, with more resistant stock."
However, in spite of literally thousands and thousands of pounds spent on research, no one yet knows what makes sheep susceptible to scrapie. Research carried out in the UK last May by Fiona Houston et al was entitled Resistant sheep get BSE (i.e. in the laboratory after having their brains injected) :.."The susceptibility of ARR/ARR sheep to intracerebral injection with BSE indicates that these animals cannot be regarded as having absolute genetic resistance to TSE infection.." This EU legislation stems originally from the assumption that BSE came from scrapie sheep through animal feed that contained meat and bone meal. The NSP seems an unstoppable juggernaut - never mind the narrowing of the gene pool, the dawning realisation that far more questions remain than answers, and the wasted animal lives. The whole scheme appears to be based on very rocky science.

April 6 ~ "Europe is rejecting plans for huge wind turbines across the continent - as the British Government continues to ignore widespread concern about this controversial form of renewable energy..." WMN. See windfarms page

April 6 ~ "only environmentalism has the power to restrain global corporations" is the message of George Monbiot's article in today's Guardian "

April 6 ~ "The focus of the role of vets in large animal practices needs to move away from curing disease towards preventing it," says Dr Debby Reynolds, the new CVO, in this FWi article £21.5m to aid disease research (about funding for improved vet training). While common sense tells us that prevention is indeed better than cure, EU countries are not allowed - on the grounds of trade barriers - to vaccinate routinely against many of the worst animal diseases of all. When the EU expands in May there will be increased diffficulties with countries finding themselves no longer allowed to protect themselves and whose borders will be wide open to disease passing both in and out.

April 6 ~ In Indonesia, the military has quietly regained the power it enjoyed under Suharto, and members of its bloodthirsty special forces unit, known as Kopassus, are once again being trained in Australia. Pilger

April 5 ~ The Basra protestors have ended their occupation. Roger has a comment.

April 5 ~ "In 1997, Tony Blair could have reduced fears about immigration with a wide-eyed television broadcast. Now, an intervention by the prime minister would only increase the apprehensions." Roy Hattersley in the Guardian

April 5 ~ "Until today the police were permitted to take and keep DNA or fingerprint specimens without consent only after the suspect had been convicted of a recordable offence. From now on, the 2003 Criminal Justice Act allows it to be done whether the arrested person is subsequently charged and convicted or not." Guardian

April 5 ~ Efforts are resuming to cull hedgehogs in the Outer Hebrides - despite renewed anger from campaigners. BBC

April 5 ~ An emailer writes with this extract from the Washington Daily News "Rose Acre Farms and the state of North Carolina are continuing to communicate to resolve permit issues on a proposed 4-million-hen egg-laying operation to be built near the Hyde County community of Ponzer.... " That is 4 million hens treated as a production line. "Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is within a few miles of the proposed Rose Acre facility. Dense flocks of waterfowl and domestic birds such as chickens are the two main reservoirs that incubate avian influenza, say experts..." And still they are anxious to go ahead.

April 5 ~ This year's Reith Lectures are by Wole Soyinka on "The Climate of Fear" and begin on Wednesday at 8.00pm- Radio 4. A good, brave, intelligent man with a sense of humour.

April 5 ~ An emailer writes, " The Prime Minister is to take personal charge of the entire immigration and asylum system" See Scotsman today http://news.scotsman.com/paperboy.cfm?id=385052004 - oh thank goodness. What a relief. The Good Shepherd takes charge. Then we'll soon have the sort of results that we saw in FMD and the Iraq war..."

April 5 ~ Mr Blair ".. says there will be no referendum. Ergo, the constitution does not reflect the will of the British people, merely his will.... a Prime Minister who tries to rewrite the rules of the game to suit himself - as this one does - has forfeited his right to govern. " Read the article by George Trefgarne in the Telegraph. ( Warmwell's democracy page today)

April 4 ~ Peter Melchett's theory of why Bayer withdrew its application to grow gm maize here.
"...Unfortunately for Bayer, the British Government took them at their word, and said that their GM maize could only be grown using one weedkiller. Based on experience in North America, Bayer know that won't work in practice."

April 4 ~ An email about two very recent research projects into FMD vaccine. Given an interval of 14 days following vaccination - complete protection in sheep and no virus transmission in pigs.

April 4 ~ A previous FAWC report entitled "Foot and Mouth Disease 2001 and Animal Welfare: Lessons for the Future", the recommendations of which they hope will be noted, can be downloaded here.

April 4 ~ Michael Howard ( better late than never) wants a referendum on the EU Constitution : “When it comes to transferring power from Britain to Brussels, Tony Blair says ’trust me’. Well, Conservatives say ’trust the people’." http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2732767

April 4 ~ "The Government welcomes comments on its draft response to the FAWC report (pdf file) from all interested parties."
After the involvement of ILPH in the horse export row it is noticeable that they have not been listed as consultees. One horse owner is alarmed at the government's response to a paragraph on page 20 of the consultation document, wondering on whose horses/ponies the "research" into distress wll be carried out.

April 4 ~ Sir Menzies Campbell: "The cat is out of the bag. The certainty with which Colin Powell lectured the Security Council of the United Nations was overwhelming. Now we have every reason to believe that the information upon which he was relying does not stand up," BBC See also BBC's page on what Mr Blair said about Iraq's weapons before and after the war. (Colin Powell has now admitted that the information about mobile laboratories for making biological weapons. "appears not to be... that solid". )

April 4 2004 ~ "Short's diary shows in the final run-up to war Blair persuaded her not to resign and repeatedly stated that Bush had promised it would be the UN, not the American-led occupying coalition, which would supervise the reconstruction of Iraq. This, she writes, was the clinching factor in her decision to stay in the Government - with devastating consequences for her own political reputation. " See Iraq page and the article today from the Observer about Bush and Blair's secret pact just after 9/11.

April 4 ~ "Mr Herron therefore revealed that the Government had printed just 139,000 "Your Say" leaflets to cover the (North East) region's 1.9 million voters. "Are we expected to read one, memorise it, then pass it on to 13 other people?" he asked...." Booker's Notebook "Hardly surprisingly, the latest polls show that the majority of voters in the North-East haven't the slightest idea what Prescott and his cronies are on about; but whatever it is, they are likely to be against it."

April 4 ~ Geoffrey Lean on the end of GM crops in Britain warmwell GM page

April 4 ~ US Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted that evidence he submitted to the United Nations to justify war on Iraq may have been wrong. BBC

April 3 ~ The French authorities are devoting 248.34 million euros (163 million pounds), raised by tax or directly from the State budget, to support their fallen stock scheme. "The EU Commission has decided to make no objection to a tax being levied to finance the collection and processing of animals found dead on farms and the cost of collecting, processing and incinerating slaughter waste. " (Commission Press Room) Meanwhile, on the DEFRA website,there are "Q&A" about the UK fallen stock scheme and its continuing delay.

April 3 ~ Northumberland NFU chairman, Stoker Frater, pulls no punches in his dismissal of the latest Contingency Plan “...Defra vets show they didn’t know what they were doing during the last crisis, and even if real contingency plans are now put in place we will soon not have any vets to do it with. I honestly do not think we are any better prepared for foot-and-mouth than we were the day before the last outbreak..." See front page

April 3 ~ NFU Cymru President Peredur Hughes, reported in the North Wales Daily Post ".. "I'm also concerned there's still no reliable test that will distinguish between a vaccinated animal and one that has had the disease. It could restrict the marketing of vaccinated livestock and result in a two-tier meat pricing structure."
That farmers and the public are still subjected to such misinformation is distressing. "Reliable" discriminatory tests were available in 2001 The 3-ABC ELISA is an already well-validated test in cattle, while in Taiwan a peptide based NSP-ELISA was used to differentiate convalescent from vaccinated pigs. The continuing misinformation about so-called "carrier" animals (Never shown to infect others in the field) allows the ignorant to continue to cling to their desperately tragic anti-vaccination stance in 2001. This is a political problem not a veterinary one.

April 2 ~ We are reminded that the Number 10 website has a page for "Other views" and that readers might choose to write something like ..." I ask that the European Constitution be put to the British people in a Referendum." www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page4345.asp (new window)

April 2 ~ Moira Linaker writes "The press do seem to get some things a bit back to front at times. Still, once written, what can one do? The books are selling so I think I will stop reading what they all say from now on." See BBC article about "Behind Chained Gates" (A review of the book will appear on warmwell as soon as the copy now in the post from Moira - "the Rotweiller" (!) - has been received and read)

April 2 ~ Sounds familiar. "A Defra spokesman said investigations would continue to try to establish how the disease arrived at Landare, which had not traded cattle through markets for some months. An epidemiological task force of experts had been set up to review the scientific and biological data that had been collected, he said. But the spokesman added that while Defra was doing everything it could, there was the possibility the source might never be traced." WMN

April 2 ~ Bryn writes of the revised FMD Contingency Plan (pdf - slow file) , "DEFRA have been mulling over how they will activate the Emergency Vaccination plan for going on 3 years now and they still contend,

Bryn draws a bleak comparison to what he considers to be needless dithering over vaccination with the news today that Mr Blair is rushing through the ID card with the words ""It is perfectly obvious why we are having to do this because we want to protect our people against terrorism and we are protecting the Muslim population."...

April 2 ~ Warmwell's email problems with Hotmail appear to have been resolved. Apologies for the delay.

April 2 ~ "Mr Howard likened the (Dring) affair to the Government cover-ups over lax immigration controls which yesterday forced the resignation of Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes. "This is yet another example of a very familiar pattern with this Government," he said. "When something is put to them which is inconvenient first they deny it, then they try and cover it up and finally they have to admit it. We have just had it over Beverley Hughes and immigration. It is exactly the same thing." WMN See warmwell page on the Dring affair

April 2 ~ "Tony Blair keeps saying he wants to have a big conversation with the country but he is completely ignoring them over one of the biggest issues facing us today. The European Constitution will lead to a substantial transfer of power away from Britain to the EU. It is a very important decision and people are entitled to have their say in a referendum. Over the next months, we will campaign to increase the pressure on Tony Blair and force him to listen. The prime minister expects everyone to trust him, but he has got to learn to trust the people." Michael Ancram. See BBC

April 1 ~ Warmwell is having problems receiving email. Apologies. Please keep trying.

April 1 ~ Defra caught napping? The NAP is the National Allocation Plan which has to do with the trading of emissions. DEFRA has missed the deadline, saying that "The UK takes all EU responsibilities and deadlines seriously and is fully supportive of the EU ETS. We also have a duty to take full account of issues raised as a result of public consultation." Since the consultation closed on Friday 12th March 2004 at 5pm and DEFRA planned to finalise the draft national allocation plan during the remainder of March and then send it off yesterday, they are evidently taking their duty seriously and at some length.

April 1 ~ Swill. The NPA site quotes Robert Persey "The Prime Minister wanted to announce a ban on swill feeding to the House of Commons that afternoon but Nick Brown said there should be a consultation first. When the results of the consultation came through and showed only 32 percent of the respondents favoured a ban on swill feeding, what could he do? He was under pressure from his boss to find somebody to blame for foot and mouth so he had to ban swill feeding - so he made that statement to the House of Commons on April 26. Little did he know that he would get found out." See Robert Persey's email.

April 1 ~ GM (See front page) Were the Reading fodder results passed to Bayer - and can it really be possible that the UK government and its advisers were not aware of them or of results of work in Norway on the safety of the CaMV promoter used in Chardon LL transgenic insert? (Hansard) (A PQ can be effectively sidestepped by the excuse that work has not yet been published or peer-reviewed - - cf Ben Bradshaw was unable to comment on Irish bovine TB vaccine trials ) Has Bayer realised that there are real problems after all with mutating GM strains?

March 31/April 1 ~ Beware pseudo green window-dressing over inappropriately sited windfarms. Country Life is launching a cross-party campaign and petition to oppose the Deputy Prime Minister's Planning Policy Statement 22, which encourages the development of land-based wind farms in Britain. You can sign the petition online by visiting www.countrylife.co.uk/windfarms

March 31 ~ It's a minor niggle compared to the overall picture, but if only the writer of the revised FMD Contingency plan knew the difference between "consist of " and "comprise" (comprise of does not exist in English) and had checked for other errors in the English "Modelling to including interspread.." and so on. (Did the writer even know to what "InterSpread"refers?)

March 31 ~ "the source might never be traced.." FWi - This time referring to the source of the Cornwall brucellosis outbreak. (All tests have finally been returned negative) DEFRA is apparently unable to do more than continue to investigate "including tracing imports of foreign livestock into Devon and Cornwall" Article 2.3.1.2. of OIE's Terrestrial Animal Health Code states that " animals introduced into a free country or zone shall only come from herds officially free from bovine brucellosis or from herds free from bovine brucellosis. This condition may be waived for animals which have not been vaccinated and which, prior to entry into the herd, were isolated and were subjected to the serological tests for bovine brucellosis with negative results on 2 occasions, with an interval of 30 days between each test. ...." If DEFRA's investigations lead to silence we can assume either that these checks were not carried out or that illegal imports of livestock are taking place. It will have occurred to many that illegal imports of live animals or semen, rather than "swill", might have been the source of FMD and could well account for the secrecy and misinformation that still pervades the issue.

March 31 ~ The amendment has been passed and David Byrne has now supported the principle of an opt-out to allow Britain to ban the export of equines. See horse export page.

March 31 ~ "The administration also did not hesitate to use fear of terrorism to launch a broadside attack on measures that have been in place for a generation to prevent a repetition of gross abuses of authority ... " Al Gore on the Politics of Fear has relevance for the UK

March 31 ~An email today: "I have just been reading reports that "U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq." According to The Tehran Times "a reliable source from the Iraqi Governing Council, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that U.S. forces, with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to conceal their actions."
It's probably nothing and I'm sceptical in view of the fact that this is the only report I've seen - and it must have occurred to thousands that the US would like to do this - but have also noted an article from the Associated Press that has appeared in countless newspapers today: "US to broaden hunt for WMD in Iraq"..."

March 31 ~ "Any sensible farmer welcomes responsible visitors who know when to shut gates, respect nesting birds and provide custom for farm shops. But the downside of the right to roam is the minority who see in it a licence to treat those who work in the countryside with contempt..." Muckspreader in Private Eye this week.

March 31 ~ Biometric passports See democracy page "Governments may claim that they are under an international obligation to create national databases of fingerprints and face scans but we will soon see nations with appalling human rights records generating massive databases, and then requiring our own fingerprints and face-scans as we travel.."

March 31 ~ Food Aid is not the answer. Its motive is to create a new market and has little to do with feeding the hungry. Self sufficiency through development work is the way forward. We are therefore disappointed by the apparent slant of the Guardian article Hungry Angola bans GM food aid To be fair, however, they do include this important comment by Charlie Kronick, of Greenpeace "There is a constant drip of pressure from the US government and biotech industry to make sure Africa is softened up for GM. Europe is closed to them and they need a market for it."

March 31 ~ The Government's plans to experiment with all-postal ballots in June's European Parliament elections were thrown out for a fifth time by the House of Lords yesterday. See democracy page Lord Filkin said, "It defeats me to understand how this House can believe this is a point of principle on which it should stand in the face of the Commons for potentially five times." Perhaps Lord Filkin isn't familiar with such points.

March 31 ~ Both Matthew Parris and Simon Jenkins on excellent form today. Matthew Parris reports from Basra "...The place is a stinking mess and the townsfolk are unemployed and desperate."
Simon Jenkins on the reality "that Mr Blunkett can do virtually nothing about immigration except spend money" says that ".. Ms Hughes broke the code that governs ministerial accountability for departmental decisions. This states emphatically that ministers carry the can for policy. This does not mean they have to resign if mistakes are made. That would lead to a daily reshuffle. It means only that when policy goes awry ministers do not blame officials."

March 31 ~ Bayer Cropscience has given up attempts to grow commercial GM maize in Britain. GM page

March 30 ~ Tim Russert reports on CNN that Condoleeza Rice will testify before the full 911 commission under oath, not in secret. And... the President and Vice President will testify before the full committee, in private. At the time of this writing, no web articles on this are available. Later...see Associated Press

March 30 ~"The fight against terrorism has to be balanced with due respect for civil liberties, the EU’s anti-terror tsar Gijs de Vries said today “We live in an open society in Europe, where people enjoy many liberties. It is important to preserve those liberties, to build on them, There can never be in any society a guarantee of 100 percent security.” Scotsman

March 30 ~ Doctors at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary are dealing with a suspected outbreak of the Sars virus. BBC (Since proved to be a false alarm)

March 30 ~ Reducing dependence on external support is essential for survival and dignity. The World Land Trust (just found on the internet) seems to be getting it right "Financial independence is a priority for all WLT projects, and is being carried out through a variety of means, including sustainable forestry, ecotourism and the sale of non-timber forest products. WLT believes that self-reliance is essential if conservation projects are going to be successful in the long term."

March 30 ~ Postal Voting (see democracy page) The move to extend the pilot scheme to 14 million voters is against the advice of the Electoral Commission and four separate votes by peers. Postal voting is susceptible to fraud. Integrity mechanisms for checking voters' identity against possible fraud are not robust enough.
(Could the reason for the Commons' insistence on postal voting in the North West be more closely connected with the setting up of a "North West Assembly" than is being admitted?)

March 30~ George Monbiot in today's Guardian warns that "If a nation like Britain - whose prime minister poses as a broker of peace and disarmament - has abandoned the non-proliferation treaty, is installing the capacity to build a new generation of nuclear weapons, has asserted the right to strike pre-emptively and is beginning, in short, to look like a large and well-armed rogue state, then what possible incentive do other nations have to abandon their weapons? ." Read in full

March 30 ~ In Parliament last nigh David Davis (Shadow home secretary) warned that care should be taken to protect civil liberties when all parties seemed to welcome David Blunkett's new "supergrass" system to make the UK "one of the most difficult environments in the world for organised crime".

March 30 ~ Elli Logan appeals for first hand information. Many will remember that Elli was at the forefront of protests, paticularly during the Northumberland inquiry

March 29/30 ~ Sir Peter Ustinov has died. Some of his quotations can be found in the Telegraph e.g. "People who reach the top of the tree are only those who haven't got the qualifications to detain them at the bottom."

March 29/30 ~ The Ustinov quotation above brings to mind the Minister for the Horse. Alun Michael's recent lecture at the 12th National Equine Forum on Thursday included telling the assembled company that the horse industry (sic) consisted "of activities based on the use, possession or ownership of horses, plus suppliers of horse-related goods and services for those core activities. The core ranges from professional through to leisure activities, and includes many semi-professional riders, and participants whose interest is split between commerce and leisure. Suppliers include farriery, feed, equine medicine, livery yards, racecourses, tack, and training..." Lord...when is Mr Michael going to stop spouting and start thinking about the nasty reality of horse exports

March 29/30 ~ Smithfield enlarges Bryn notes that the giant Smithfield - whose methods are as dubious as their product - have bought a15% shareholding in Campofrio, the largest meat processor in Spain, in addition to forming Smithfield Food Ltd

March 29 ~ ".. the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been "worse than a disappointment" according to this article in yesterday's Sunday Times "......."What's needed," says Johnston, "is root-and-branch reform of the FSA. Given its various pronouncements on GM and organics, the man at the top ought to consider his position very, very carefully."

March 29 ~ A West Country farmer says he would rather give up his dairy herd than evict a herdsman from his adjoining cottage when he retires - particularly since any new herdsman would be able to learn a lot from him. But the Council has turned down his application for another house on the farm... See WMN.

March 29 ~ "When did anyone in their right mind consider creating a regulation that's weaker than the standard most manufacturers work to at present?" See WMN report today on the latest Euro-meddling idiocy - this time proposals to make all food labelled "yoghurt" conform to a type of bitter-tasting live bacteria.

March 29 ~ "The introduction of ID cards would see law-abiding people forced to obey the arrogant cry of "Papers!" Meanwhile, more power will be transferred to centralised EU institutions, which would undermine further our right to govern ourselves." A letter in today's Times. See Democracy page

March 29 ~ "Ancient apple orchards face bonfire as blight of farm payouts bites" Guardian' The loss of one old orchard can mean the extinction of an apple variety, said Sue Clifford, of Common Ground. "You don't just lose trees. You lose the recipes, the songs, the work, the festivals, the landscape, and all the wisdom gathered over generations of how you grow them." ....the government said it was taking the issue up with the European commission. "We are aware of the concerns and are in discussion with the commission and with fruit growers," said a spokesman for Defra.'

March 29 ~ Virus alert. We are worried to hear that a virus purporting to come from our "libertysurf" email address is carrying a virus attachment. We NEVER use libertysurf to send email and it does not come from here. Please delete immediately anything received.

March 29 ~ An extraordinary night in France with 74% turnout at the polls. The electorate watched as, on television screens, region after region on the map of France showed red, sending a very strong message of discontent to the government. The Socialist, communist and Green parties had allied against the Right and the National Front - and routed them. In one household at least, Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (PM) words were greeted with howls of derision He said lessons had to be learnt by the government, but "reforms must be continued, very simply because they are necessary". One wonders therefore what lessons he thought could be learned from such an overwhelming rejection from the electorate if the "reforms" were to continue. But governments - as we know - like to talk about lessons learned when nothing appears to have been learned at all.

March 28 ~ After Robert Fisk's article in today's Independent on Sunday the Channel 4 update tells us of "scenes in Mosul - civilians jumping for joy around the burned out car in which a British man was killed - are more than distressing. The Briton was a security guard, one of thousands who've been drafted in to protect contractors and even soldiers themselves as Iraq lurches ever deeper into anarchy"

March 28 ~ Anthony Sampson in the Observer illustrates what has happened to the English establishment of 40 years ago. "Who runs Britain?" he asks. "The counterweights to government are weakening, while more power is passing to the centre. .... . The old guardians of institutions, with their self-serving rituals and resistance to self-regulation, are easy targets for any politician in need of a popular vote. But working out a more democratic alternative has been more difficult. Only a few people at the centre are taking these decisions, and it is not clear that they understand the full implications for a country without a written constitution. ..." See democracy page

March 28 ~ "Senior BBC staff are threatening to take some flagship programmes off the air rather than face criticisms from an internal inquiry (described as a 'kangaroo court') launched in the aftermath of Hutton. ..political editor Andrew Marr, Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman, and Today's John Humphrys and Jim Naughtie have all raised concerns at the process that has been likened to 'the BBC's own Guantanamo'. .Many staff said the inquiry had simply furthered the BBC's reputation as 'caving in' to the Government..." Observer

March 28 ~ The Sunday Times today calls for a referendum on Europe. "Mr Blair will not concede such a vote, of course, because he knows he would lose it. An ICM poll today shows an opposition of 3-1 to the constitution." (Thanks to three emailers who all sent this link within one hour)

March 28 ~ Sunday Herald: "Disillusionment with a government has brought apathy, not opposition. Blair, for all his messianic speeches and warmongering, has put Britain to sullen sleep.... If the actual choice of government is between New Labour and old Tories, half of us are declining the indignity" But - even in Parliament - there are those who very much dislike what they are seeing at the head of the two main parties. The electorate needs their voice. As the Sunday Herald says, "there are now socialist parties across the United Kingdom and the Greens for those seeking something new."
(an emailer writes a relevant comment to this)

March 28 ~ "Alas, it is easier for the media to join in promoting health scares than to see through the woolly thinking that usually lies behind them." Booker's Notebook

March 28 ~ "despite almost unanimous opposition from residents and the local council, English Nature insists that it must proceed with the destruction of 60,000 more trees, to fulfil its obligations under the EC's Habitats directive..." Booker's Notebook

March 27 ~ SFP fairness. "Northumberland farmer Malcolm Corbett has challenged Secretary of State Margaret Beckett to rethink the plans which could prove damaging to many livestock producers. ........Under the initial proposals, England is split into two regions - upland areas and the rest of the country. However, because the new payment is based on the size of farms, rather than on what is produced, this penalises lower level livestock farms that tend to be very productive but smaller in size. To redress this problem, the NFU and others are now calling for England to be split into three regions: land above the moorland line, land lower down but still within the SDA and lowland England." See today's Journal

March 27 ~ " Even by our Dear Leader's own standards, this readiness to jettison principle to suck up to corporate power is shameless and shameful." These letters in the Guardian and Independent certainly reflect the disgust we are hearing everywhere at the hypocrisy and dangerous lack of principle shown by Mr Blair and his ilk. We are often told that " it is just the necessary cynical world of politics" and that "it was always this bad" ;perhaps the difference now is that ordinary people are very much better informed, do not like what they see and want to get involved.

March 27 ~ " the lawyers failed to include fiction in the text of the gagging order - and so Mr Sixsmith was free to write a novel drawing on his career at the heart of government..." See Telegraph today. "..Spin is the first of a two-book deal that Mr Sixsmith has struck with Macmillan..Mr Sixsmith creates a fictional chief press aide described as a master of dirty tricks who blackmails journalists and politicians to bring them into line. "

March 26/27 ~ The Food Ethics Council reports on ethical issues in food and agriculture. Of particular interest is their latest document "Agri-Food Research: Participation and the public good" (pdf file) "...Relatively few resources have been devoted to engaging the public in research and science policy upstream. Yet, at least in principle, the earlier that stakeholders and citizens become involved in science, the more likely it is that the outcomes will address their perceived needs and respect their values."

March 26/7 ~"Blair wants full steam ahead for the Euro constitution. He's sick of the arguments over majority voting. He's had enough of being accused of taking Britain into a dangerous new world without a referendum. Once the draft is out there he can convince people, he believes, that this is merely about the way the EU institutions function..." from Channel 4's news update.

March 26 ~ "Smithfield Foods Ltd. will provide retail and food service customers in the U.K. with a full line of fresh meats and further processed chilled and canned meat products developed for the U.K. market...Smithfield Foods Ltd. will gain a dedicated supply relationship from Smithfield's Polish subsidiary, Animex, and its French subsidiary, SBS, assuring Smithfield Food Ltd.'s customers of consistent quality" Smithfield Inc press release Smithfield's methods are nauseating in all sense of the word. See below We would be grateful to receive any links about Smithfield spotted in the press or elsewhere. "Food Standards" in the UK need to be protected - as does animal welfare.

March 26 ~ The Genetically Modified Organisms Bill has collapsed and Elliot Morley "did not bother to turn up" according to this press release "...this important Bill which would have ensured that regulations on liability could be debated and approved by the Houses of Parliament. .... All parties agree that the issues of liability must be resolved before GM plantings can proceed. The Government’s actions today are astonishing.” See also FWi report.

March 26 ~ "In just one day Tony Blair has invented a new permanent secretary to oversee government communications, hired yet another political special adviser in an already bloated Number 10 team - and the very press officer forced to apologise for calling Dr David Kelly a Walter Mitty character after his suicide is now the prime minister's only official spokesman," Matthew Taylor, the Liberal Democrats' chairman, said. Guardian see also the democracy page on warmwell.

March 26 ~ "Wales is prepared for any future outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease" says Carwyn Jones, adding that the contingency plan would be published on April 1. icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

March 26 ~ Coinciding with Mr Blair's much trumpeted visit to Libya is the news today that the supposed Libyan capability for WMD (which made its pledge of disarmament such a coup for the UK and the US) were at the very least exaggerated. Libya was "several years" away from making a bomb. See Iraq page
Mr Blair last night confirmed Colonel Gaddafi as "a full ally in his coalition against terrorism" Trade links and military co-operation will now be arranged.

March 26 ~ Lord Filkin - after the 4th defeat in the Lords - said that the Government still wanted the North West to be included in the postal vote"pilot" (See democracy page) He said, "... That is not for petty reasons. ...."
Of course the government wants postal voting in the North West . A North West regional assembly will only be established in the North West if people vote ‘Yes’ in the referendum.

March 26 ~"Whitehall prose, once a treasure house of classicism, has been hopelessly corrupted by Blairism. Its output is a diarrhoea of mission statements, motherhood objectives, risk assessments and jargon. Staff must go on courses to learn how to write the stuff. It adds no value to their work, but rather subtracts by its opacity. English thus needs its guardians..." Simon Jenkins in the Times

March 25 ~ "Smithfield uses its wealth to buy politicians, paralyse regulatory agencies and break health and environmental laws with impunity....Just as Smithfield used North Carolina to launch its takeover of US pork production in the 1980s, so Poland is now being used as Smithfield's platform for launching its bid for monopoly control of pork production in Europe. " (Ecologist Jan 2004) If any mention is made in the mainstream press of the entry into the UK market by pork from the giant Smithfield we should be most grateful to hear about it. See also below and warmwell front page for March 25

March 25 ~ "A breakdown of the relationship between the Government and local vets could affect the future handling of farm diseases, it has been warned. Nicky Paull, of Cornwall Veterinary Association" WMN today, in an article which points out that the brucellosis outbreak was thanks to the relationship between farmers, vets and the local Veterinary Laboratory Agency.

March 25 ~ At Prime Minster's Questions yesterday Peter Luff asked, "What is the government planning to do to help the Plain English campaign celebrate its 20th anniversary later this year and what will the Deputy Prime Minister do personally do to help wage its war on gobbledegook?" (John Prescott kept his cool, won some laughs and admitted that he would not be addressing the conference. But will the question encourage him to limit his use of the phrase "at the end of the day"? And is the government even aware of its Ministers' apparent difficulties with their native language?)

March 25 ~ We hear on Yesterday in Parliament that the House of Lords was yesterday accused of "impertinence" for wanting to refer Postal Voting issue to the Electoral Commission. We should be grateful to be guided to any media article deploring Labour's assumption that it may tinker around with the unwritten British Constitution with impunity.

March 25 ~ Another cyncial question on timing from an emailer: "I have heard reports that Blair has told his supporters to prepare for the possibility of an early election, in October. I bet he is worried that Bush will not be re-elected in November, which would have serious consequences to his own prospects of re-election. Why else would he want an election in October?"

March 25 ~ Who needs a long spoon? ...."Tony Blair makes an historic visit to Libya to mark the country's return to the international community" reports the BBC amd an emailer remarks, "A cynical question about timing: Is it just a coincidence, or a good time to divert attention away from another event? Blair's announcement of his visit to Libya tomorrow, just as Richard Clarke is testifying in Congress."

March 24 ~ An emailer writes, "What do you think of the blatant spin in this Guardian article ?:

(The Guardian article referred to is "EU Momentum puts Blair on the spot")

March 24 ~ "The sovereignty of Parliament and the EU constitution" will be debated at Westminster Hall today as a Private Members’ Debate - introduced by William Cash

March 24 ~ US pigmeat giant Smithfield is now established in Britain and plans to bring in cheap pork from Poland. In an article last November, Robert Kennedy JNr said on the subject of Smithfield in Poland: "People who live near the factory farms complain of nausea, asthma attacks and blackouts. Children at the school village began vomiting. Activists point to US studies which they claim show that factory farm workers and their neighbours contract lung disease, eye infections, nosebleeds and gastro intestinal illness. ..."

March 23 ~ "Dr Teinaz, who is also an adviser to the Islamic Cultural Centre, alerted the Food Standards Agency and called for an official investigation of how the meat was passed by the Meat Hygiene Service." FWi on the consignment of supposedly Halal mutton found in a lorry parked at Wood Green in London.

March 23 ~ Key ministers charged with tackling gangmasters did not meet until six weeks after the Morecambe Bay tragedy, it was revealed today. Guardian

March 23 ~ Supermarket threat ".. changes, buried in an obscure consultation document, would weaken tight rules against new superstores which were introduced ten years ago. They would force local authorities to consider approving out-of-town locations if no town centre alternative was available, and critics fear they could make it easier for stores to expand on existing out-of-town sites. .....massive expansion in out-of-town shopping in the 1980s and early 1990s is widely blamed for wreaking havoc on the viability of the region's town centres.... " WMN See also Inbox yesterday - and Dr Richard North on the phenomenon of the consultation document.

March 23 ~ The former top counter-terrorism aide at the White-House, Richard Clarke (Republican) was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight. A viewer's comments: "Richard Clarke was very impressive, quiet and in full possession of the facts - he came across extremely well - and I should think the Bush administration really feels it has got a problem. It was quite clear that the Bush presidency had totally focussed on Iraq from day 1 - and was unable to understand that by invading Iraq - not only would this not address the terrorist threat - but make it worse.."

March 23 ~ EU rules, the European Working Time Directive, which come in this summer, restricting doctors' working hours to 58 hours a week, will cost the NHS the work of at least 3,700 junior doctors...the BMA was concerned that ministers had not put enough preparations in place to fend off a crisis. Independent

March 23 ~ The RSPCA is critical of many of the proposals that could, for example, allow one-week-old lambs to be shipped around Europe's roads on journeys of limitless duration. The Society wants a maximum journey limit of eight hours, but the proposals under discussion state that nine will be allowed, followed by a 12-hour rest on board - a pattern that can be repeated indefinitely until the animals reach their destination. We think this is unacceptable. This is a critical time to write to the Secretary of State Margaret Beckett to ensure the UK supports an eight-hour journey limit. Please click here to see how you can help.(new window) See Also Compassion in World Farming's microsite on live exports.

March 23 ~ "Accessibility is one of Defra's core values. We are committed to promoting and actively developing, internally and externally, a culture of openness, transparency and customer focus" Bryn wonders why - given its culture of openness, transparency and (the oddly phrased )"customer focus" - Defra is unwilling to make public information they hold on the FMD crisis.

March 23 ~ We learn from the Scotsman that "each of the 108 offices for MSPs in the new Holyrood building has been fitted with a top-of-the-range refrigerator for "their own personal use"..." How pleasing for taxpayers to know that when they drop in on their elected MSP there is the possibility of being offered a cornetto.

March 23 ~ Requests for a recent picture of the puppy have been received. Benji and Morgan yesterday.

March 22 ~ in the wake of the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, an emailer notes "the hypocrisy of Jack Straw talking about "illegal killing" and Blair talking about "action against terrorism without international agreement" ..."

March 22 ~ "I spent time liaising with the DWP. Eventually they admitted to having made an administrative error and agreed that they would not pursue the matter. They apologised for the distress they had caused Mrs R and her family." A story in the WMN about the decency of someone at the Department of Works and Pensions restores our faith that there are human beings working in some government departments.

March 22 ~ " Farmers should be as efficient as possible, not as big as possible. Every expansion of Camelot was another family farm blitzed. A family working hard on up to 1000 arable acres and doing everything perfectly is the only way forward for the industry. When it gets bigger, management becomes too difficult. That is at the basis of Scotpigs being thrown out of the farm assurance schemes and for the string of public relations disasters which has followed the King from court to court." The Herald today

March 22 ~ On Wednesday the government will try to force through their unconstitutional measures on postal voting. It would appear that it is of vital importance for Mr Blair and co that the people of Yorkshire and Humberside, the North-East and the North-West decide in favour of "elected regional assemblies". See democracy page.

March 22 ~ Richard Clarke's revelations, too late for many of the papers, are covered by the Guardian. Richard Clarke, who retired as the White House counter-terrorism coordinator last year, accused the president of putting pressure on him to find evidence of Iraqi involvement in the September 11 attacks, despite being told repeatedly that there was no link. "I think he's done a terrible job on the war against terrorism," said Mr Clarke. "Frankly, I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know."

March 22 ~ Strikes by scientists, hospital workers, performing arts professionals, teachers and even lawyers should have forewarned Mr Chirac's ruling UMP party government that people are really very disillusioned. The 60% turnout was also higher than expected. Chirac gets grim poll warning from left and far right Guardian

March 22 ~ Warmwell does not include coverage of the immensely complex and disquieting Israel/Palestine situation - but the murder of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in a pre-meditated Israeli missile attack in Gaza fills us with deep foreboding. Hamas has said that Ariel Sharon has "opened the gates of hell". Israeli officials have described the killing as a "life-saving mission" as - they say - Yassin was directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people.

March 22 ~ "Gordon Brown has sanctioned an assault on the countryside and the vitality of market town high streets by insisting that the ban on out-of-town shopping centres should be relaxed. The Chancellor has made his decision under pressure from major retailers such as Tesco, B&Q, Asda and Ikea...This latest example of Treasury interference in the planning system comes less than a week after a Treasury report proposed that 1.4 million homes should be built in England over the next 10 years. It will cause renewed alarm among conservationists and local planners. ..." Telegraph (Thank you for the link, Brent.)

March 21 ~ "The heart of the BASIS field laboratory is the Cepheid Smart Cycler....Livermore researchers have developed tests for foot-and-mouth disease.....Using these DNA signatures and PCR-based detection instruments, test results can be obtained in less than an hour..." from America's Lawrence Livemore National Laboratory booklet on Homeland Security.

March 21 ~ Norm, who lived in Australia during the 2001 foot and mouth crisis, writes an email: " I have learnt since that it was the most horrendous and disgusting exercise carried out against the farming community in the UK" and adds some thoughts about the bull from Oswestry that was discovered to be infected at Cheales.

March 21 ~' if just one Liberal Democrat had stood by their own policy "the executive would have been told Scotland must remain GM free"....' See Geoffrey Lean's article in the Independent on Sunday (GM page)

March 21 ~ Brucellosis in Cornwall. We read in yesterday's WMN that "Neighbouring farms to the Bude holding are not under restriction". This may, of course, have changed by today - but DEFRA 's competence is likely to be questionned by the people of the South West who suffered so much in 2001.

March 21 ~ Interesting that the two articles on Mr Blunkett's "voluntary" scheme to rush through a later compulsory ID card are so different in tone. The Sunday Times slants its language to suggest that the public would be in favour of carrying a card: "Most MPs, like the public, are in favour of ID cards and the bill would easily get passed in a climate of fear about terrorism." The Independent on Sunday's choice of language takes a more constitutional appraoch and warns of "citizens" being "forced to carry identity cards without a further act of Parliament being passed."

March 21 ~ "Alastair Campbell has admitted he personally intervened to get a knighthood for his friend, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. ...said he offered Ferguson the honour minutes after Manchester United won the European Cup in 1999. ..... why an unelected civil servant was able to dispense such a cherished award to a close friend and Labour benefactor." Australia Advertiser's Sunday Mail

March 20 ~ Beware a new type of computer virus (variants of Bagle), which can be sent via email without the user opening an attachment. See information

March 20 ~ " I refuse to accept that being opposed to terrorism must mean supporting state terrorism as practised by Blair and George W." A selection of letters from the Independent

March 20 ~ "The government makes a big thing of having a conversation with the rest of the country. It is time for it to have a quiet word with itself."
Guardian comment on its court victory. The government admitted it had been wrong to impose a blanket gagging order on the parliamentary ombudsman. Guardian

March 20 ~ "In Blair, the stealth bomber politician has won over the regular, church-going guy. " Guardian comment

March 20 ~ A US newspaper has apologised and will pay damages to MP George Galloway over wrongful allegations that he was paid millions of pounds by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein Guardian yesterday ".. Mr Galloway, who says he is the victim of a political smear campaign, is now demanding an inquiry into who had forged the documents."

March 20 ~ "Evidence of a global extinction crisis..Atmospheric nitrogen pollution is caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and from intensive agriculture, especially from the volatilisation of animal waste.." New Scientist

March 18 ~ "The Foreign Affairs Select Committee has been holding an inquiry into the decision to go to war but is incensed by the Government's refusal to hand over vital documents. The committee will say this stands in stark contrast to the Hutton Inquiry which was supplied with all the evidence it asked for." ITN news

March 18 ~ Tony Blair has dropped plans to get rid the remaining hereditary peers before the next general election BBC

March 18 ~ email received today "....files contain Witness Statements made by Dring, Storey, Hind etc. Also, a form relating to the renewal of the licence, a verbal warning (given to Waugh's in connection with a lame pig) etc. If you read those files you will see that the 26 page report is untrue, with regard to 'documentation' and the fact that Dring's supervisor Andrew Hayward in Carlisle knew nothing of the problems at Burnside Farm. Also, internal memos and emails in files refer...we have the files..a press conference sometime next week...."

March 18 ~ An emailer writes "Just had a look at the Defra website - there is a press release dated 18 March relating to publication of James Dring statement. ....says that Defra and Anderson feel it would have been better for the minute (now being called minute - as opposed to memo) to have gone to the Inquiry - but that it wouldn't have made any difference. (well, they would say that)."

March 18 ~ "At the Hutton inquiry there was no oath, no powers to subpoena witnesses and no jury. Suicide has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The suicide of David Kelly does not seem to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt." WMN

March 18 ~ Dring's memo (now put up on the DEFRA website) is 11,564 words in length. An "aide-memoire"? There are still contradictions surrounding the Waugh case - notwithstanding DEFRA Ministers' irritation at the temerity of the public in questioning their actions. In shed 3 there were 369 pigs. Not one of them had FMD according to Dring and Kitching, we have been told. If 369 out of 527 are negative then 88% is not right. But the test results are missing from the Dring statement. Mr Dring appears to have been effectively silenced at the time of both the trial and the Anderson Inquiry. Many thousands of people suffered as a result of the government's handling of the FMD crisis. They deserve to be told the truth.

March 18 ~ Clare Short is to get a written warning from Labour over her claims that Britain bugged United Nations chief Kofi Annan.(BBC) No one denies this was happening. Smear campaigns against whistleblowers are another deeply worrying aspect of our political scene.

March 18 ~ "The government simply assumes that there is no GM problem, because that is what the GM industry tells them. No epidemiological studies have been conducted anywhere in the world to demonstrate that GM foods are safe to eat..." See GM page

March 17 ~ The Budget "Mr Brown agrees there must be more houses, how many and where, he's asked deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to 'look at it'. 4p on beer tax, penny on wine..usual stuff ...and a further big infusion (4.5% in real terms) for education. Oh and loads of civil servants to be sacked as Labour plays catch-up with the Tories. They thought of it several weeks ago. More at: http://www.channel4.com/news/2004/03/week_3/17_budget.html

March 17 ~ The front page of the Dring report - since last night, up on the DEFRA website - is missing. This is significant. Not merely because the front covering page says that the report was destined for the Anderson Inquiry but because DEFRA saw fit to remove that page, did not allow the statement to reach Lessons Learned and has rounded in ludicrous defensive attack on anyone who has been asking questions. It would appear that page 22 of the report is also missing. One wonders what happened to the spreadsheet of test results from Pirbright which, we understand, was originally attached to Dring's report.

March 17 ~ Nicholas Gardiner is reassured - by the Lord Chancellor....

He also said that he had received a large amount of correspondence from interested parties, but stressed that "no properly interested persons" had attempted to persuade him to reopen the case.

March 17 ~ At the special hearing yesterday, Jeremy Gompertz QC, the family's lawyer, was scathing about the MoD's breach of the duty of care "The family is disappointed that Lord Hutton did not consider more fully the extent to which the state of mind in which Dr Kelly took his own life was induced by the failings of the Ministry of Defence in the exercise of the duty of care owed to him as his employer."

March 17 ~"... Protecting the environment or tending to animal welfare is all very well, but if the threatened species happens to be human beings rather than the natterjack toad, what can you do?" Magnus Linklater in the Times"Back in Ambridge, David and Ruth are worried about whether they can afford to carry on farming at Brookfield, what with the new CAP reforms..."

March 16 ~ Steve Thoburn "became the first person to be charged and prosecuted under the Metrication Regulations for 'selling a pound of bananas.' What was exposed in the court case that followed and subsequent appeals highlighted the fact that laws made by Brussels now had supremacy over British law, but Steve was determined to fight to clear his name. The case was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights a few weeks ago, but Steve vowed to continue the fight declaring, "we may not beat the Government but we will win in the court of the people." His relentless battle became a symbol for upholding the British way of life."

March 16 ~ Did Jim Dring miss FMD at Burnside because of widespread PMWS/PDNS? We are told by an eminent veterinary authority that "PMWS/PDNS is so widespread that the veterinary input is more in terms of general advice about husbandry etc rather than certification" and that she "does not believe that there is any formal regular inspection requiring certification in England. It is not a notifiable disease." Interesting that we read in Mr Dring's statement "Certainly I saw no notifiable disease there before 22 February 2001, nor was it ever suggested to me that such was present."

March 16 ~ We hear that the inquest into the death of Dr Kelly will not be re-convened.

March 16 ~ Another parallel between FMD contingency plan