Tory Tosh About Caring For Rural Areas - 2

Heard the story about children who don't know milk comes from cows, and think it arrives in the supermarket from a factory that puts it into bottles?

That childish ignorance is in danger of becoming true.

Increased financial pressures on dairy farmers are pushing farmers towards an unwelcome and unhealthily intensive Dairy 'Industry'. More and more cows are seen as nothing but milk production factory units.

Alan Meale, Labour MP for  Mansfield, on 3rd June tabled an Early Day Motion

EDM 144 - LEVELS OF INDUSTRIALISATION IN UK DAIRY HERDS
That this House is aware of the pressures building within the agricultural and related industries in the UK towards greater levels of industrialisation in UK dairy farming, with the direct consequence of growing numbers of cows being kept indoors for most of their lives; and notes the 2009 Report of the European Food Safety Authority, which concluded that the factory farming of dairy cows should end, not least because such breeding and practices for higher milk yields are major factors causing poor health and welfare in dairy herds.

.....
In the three weeks since then sixteen Labour MPs and only oneTory MP have signed their support for the EDM

If you want to help prevent the trend towards intensive factory-farming practices harmful to cows you can lobby Central Devon's Tory MP Mel Stride. Ask him to sign the EDM and also to be pro-active on the issue - his contact details are here

But he may not want to upset his neighbouring Tory MP Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, who has this to say in the 6th April 2010 edition of Meat Trade News Daily

Harold Wilson's choice

Twice Labour Prime Minister between 1964 and 1976

Harold Wilson is remembered for his Government's

progressive and occasionally radical legislation including 

abortion, censorship, divorce, homosexuality,

immigration, membership of the European Community 

and especially the abolition of capital punishment.

I remember on my first visit to the Isles of Scilly
seeing him on St Mary's harbour quayside embarking
on one of the off-island trips.

He chose to retire to the Scillies and every time I go back for yet another holiday on those beautiful islands I think what a good choice he made.

To anyone who has not experienced this superb part of the UK - do go!

To anyone who wants to see a progressive and radical Party back in power - get involved in the Leadership contest, join us to restore the Party, help us get re-elected and see your beliefs put to work.

Call this Christian?

Such intensity of feeling brought so many Newton St Cyres residents to their Parish Hall last night that not only was there standing room only, the standing room included those who were outside the hall leaning in to listen through the open windows.

The reason?

Underneath the well-drained, fertile and

beautiful farmland of nearby Winscott Barton Farm

lie 3 million tonnes of gravel and sand

 which could be extracted and sold

to bring in money

for the Church Commissioners

who own the land.

As tennant farmers, four generations of the same family have made Winscott Barton a highly productive dairy and crop-producing farm. If the Church Commission gives them notice to quit and the gravel extraction goes ahead all this will be lost, not just for the twenty or twentyfive years it takes to sell off the gravel, but forever, because the reduced amount of farmable land that is left will drain so poorly.

Why might the Church Commissioners even entertain the idea of ruining forever a good farm - when everyone knows our country falls well short of producing all its own food?

Their investments haven't always been guided by an ethical approach as is now ensured by their Ethical Investments Advisory Board. But recently they did eventually decide to pull out of controversial dam building in India.

So if they can back off from harm in far off India,

perhaps we can persuade them to do no harm in Devon?

Please let the Secretary of the

 Ethical Investment Advisory Board 

know how you feel about the idea of

Winscott Barton Farm

becoming a gravel quarry.

Anti-Labour media buries our good news

Adam Boulton and Sly News showed everyone the media bias that Labour Party members have long recognised.

It is only newsworthy when Labour lose a national election.
But when Labour make substantial gains in local elections....?

The BBC buried the link to the bare statistics on their Elections 2010 main page.
Go compare - the lobbying group Urban Forum Untold Story Of The Local Elections.and the Local Government Chronical Labour encouraged by gains in local elections

Labour - 442 councillors gained. Control 15 more local councils

Tories - 119 councillors lost. Control 8 less councils.

Lib Dems - 129 councillors lost. Control 3 less councils

Most of the Labour gains were from councils that used to be No Overall Control.

So as our Country goes hang,

 locally people feel they've been hung out to dry too often

and are turning back to labour.

 Across England it is still the Tories who dominate the most councils.

But in the May elections next year

Labour is set to further regain control of local government.

Be part of the return to Labour values locally

Be liberated from zombie arguments. Vote Planet!

How dangerous is it to wear a T-shirt that says

"Global warming is a lot of hot air"?

I expect such a T-shirt exists.
If worn by a climate scientist on an IPCC working group, or worn on the high street by a global warming denier, its dual meanings couldn't be more opposed.

Do we laugh or despair?
If unchecked our planet will reach lethal temperatures well within the lifetimes of people alive today.
Yet we still behave (Kyoto, Copenhagen) as if the most important sustainablity is the acheivement of yet another moratorium event on the matter.

But there is no point in endlessly, politely trying to persuade a denier.

Ben Goldacre's succinct exposure of climate change denialists in his Bad Science column in the Guardian alerts us to the folly of engaging with denialists' zombie arguments, or as I've always thought of it -  "Never wrestle with a pig, You both get dirty and the pig likes it."

We don't need everyone to understand climate change. We just need enough of those people who set trends, make decisions, influence expenditure, etc.

What are the important decisions that need to be made?

Who currently makes them?

Are they getting the message?

If not, why not?

Vote Planet!

In May next year District and Parish council elections

will be held across Central Devon.

We need to start now to ensure that all those who stand for election

get the global warming message

and we need to campaign to make sure

that those with the most positive responses get elected.

Go Labour! Building on our result.

Factor in the tactical anti-Tory votes and we think our 6.9% vote share could mean as many as one in ten people in Central Devon hold dear the principle of progressive change towards a better, more equal and sustainable society: Labour values.

In Central Devon we have a crucial democratic role to play.

As I made clear at all the hustings meetings - being stuck with two-party, and sometimes single party, dominance of local councils risks a lack of accountability,  lack of transparency, and the quality of service provision.

What Labour in Central Devon now aims for is to increase our local impact. We need to challenge, scrutinise and improve local council decisions and services at parish, district and county level.

A massive thank you to all Labour supporters who voted - whether directly for Labour of tactically against the Tories. We now need to tackle the two-party domienence in Central Devon.
Already Labour members are making a difference locally.
And the Central Devon Labour Party is large enough and active enough to support those who step forward to keep local authorities under scrutiny and also to consider taking on council roles.

If you feel you have a contribution to make, whether as a supportive Party member, a local council watchdog, or going for council elections next year to represent Labour values then please email me on munyori@blueyonder.co.uk