11 December 1997 Edition
Workers in struggle: British farmers miss the target
Take a succession of ignorant, uncaring British governments and mix carefully with the failed EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the BSE crisis, ongoing international currency turmoil, Larry Goodman and Tesco Supermarkets. Where do you end up?
You just might have been one of the few hundred Welsh farmers at the Holyhead Ferryport in the early hours of 1 December who were waiting for the Stena-Sealink sailing from Dublin. Your task was simple. Search the disembarking lorries for Irish beef and lamb and block their exit from the port.
The Welsh farmers went a bit further, choosing instead to unload £100,000 worth of Larry Goodman's hamburgers destined for Tesco's freezer shelves and dump it into the Irish Sea.
In one sense the Welsh farmers were taking a well trodden path in British trade history - that of screwing the Irish economy when things are going badly at home.
This action was not that of an imperialist British Government. It was instead a highly public act by a desperate British farming community. A farming community whose blinkered approach to their problem was not to target the root cause of their grievances - the British Government - but instead to target their fellow European farming workers.
The Welsh farmers were taking a well trodden path in British trade history - that of screwing the Irish economy
The events which have forced British farmers into blockading ferry ports are a direct consequence of the Thatcher-Major policies on BSE. When BSE first appeared in Britain Thatcher and then Major steadfastly refused to slaughter herds in which BSE was detected. Now eight years later over 180,000 diseased cattle have been slaughtered and British beef exports have been decimated.
What broke the patience of the British farmers is the added effect international currency turmoil is having on beef and lamb prices. Sterling has over recent months appreciated in value against other EU currencies. In the beef markets it has made exports from other EU states to Britain cheaper while driving down the price of domestic British Beef. The National Farmers Union claims that farm incomes will drop by up to 47% this year. The British Government puts the figure at 10% which is still a significant drop by any measure.
It is these factors that have over the last week brought Welsh, English and Scottish farmers onto the streets in pursuit of economic justice. Some have claimed that they were spurred on by the efforts of the French truck drivers who brought their country's road network to a standstill twice within the space of a year.
British farmers' action has been technically different. They have blockaded ferry ports first along the Welsh coast at Pembroke, Fishguard and Holyhead, but now throughout Britain from Dover to Stranraer. The net result is that we have to witness the spectacle of worker turning against worker in order to assert the basic right to a just income.
But why have British farmers not directed their energies against their own government whose disastrous policies brought about the worldwide bans on British beef? They have called on Tony Blair and Agriculture Secretary Jack Cunningham to help them get more EU aid, but instead of pressurising them, they attacked those not responsible for the situation.
The British farmers need also to address all the causes of their dilemma, including the EU's CAP and the currency problems caused by the deregulated financial markets on which the City of London financial services industry thrives. Why was there was no blockade in the Square Mile?
For some of the farmers, there seems to be more than a tinge of Tory imperialist attitudes in their actions. One farmer told a journalist, ``We are fed up subsidising Irish farmers all year long'' and these views have been aired frequently over the last week.
The most damning element of the dispute is the role of the Labour Government who weeks ago were demanding compensation from the French Government for the costs of the truckers strike on British business. This week they have been remarkably silent.
Budget records
Charlie McCreevy's giveaway budget broke a few records last week. Apart from the record cuts in capital gains tax and the handsome tax cuts for higher earners there was also 4% cut in corporate taxes.
This tax cut was greeted with a wave of enthusiasm on the Dublin stock exchange. The exchange's ISEQ index hit a record level adding over £1 billion to the value of shares. Bank of Ireland shares hit a record high of £10 each. AIB shares also hit record levels.
It comes as no surprise then that the banking community will be major winners from McCreevy's budget and we can all look forward to another year of record profits.
£1,450 pay a day
How much is a day's work worth these days? Well if you are lawyer at the upcoming Flood Tribunal into alleged planning abuses in the 26 Counties you could be taking home £1,450 a day for your first 30 days. After that you will have to take a pay cut to £1,400 for the next 20 days. If the tribunal runs any longer you will have take yet another pay cut and work for a miserly £1,300 a day.
Just to make it all a bit more palatable, Senior counsel will get a lump sum of £25,000 for taking a case. It's dirty work but somebody has to do it.
You just might have been one of the few hundred Welsh farmers at the Holyhead Ferryport in the early hours of 1 December who were waiting for the Stena-Sealink sailing from Dublin. Your task was simple. Search the disembarking lorries for Irish beef and lamb and block their exit from the port.
The Welsh farmers went a bit further, choosing instead to unload £100,000 worth of Larry Goodman's hamburgers destined for Tesco's freezer shelves and dump it into the Irish Sea.
In one sense the Welsh farmers were taking a well trodden path in British trade history - that of screwing the Irish economy when things are going badly at home.
This action was not that of an imperialist British Government. It was instead a highly public act by a desperate British farming community. A farming community whose blinkered approach to their problem was not to target the root cause of their grievances - the British Government - but instead to target their fellow European farming workers.
The Welsh farmers were taking a well trodden path in British trade history - that of screwing the Irish economy
The events which have forced British farmers into blockading ferry ports are a direct consequence of the Thatcher-Major policies on BSE. When BSE first appeared in Britain Thatcher and then Major steadfastly refused to slaughter herds in which BSE was detected. Now eight years later over 180,000 diseased cattle have been slaughtered and British beef exports have been decimated.
What broke the patience of the British farmers is the added effect international currency turmoil is having on beef and lamb prices. Sterling has over recent months appreciated in value against other EU currencies. In the beef markets it has made exports from other EU states to Britain cheaper while driving down the price of domestic British Beef. The National Farmers Union claims that farm incomes will drop by up to 47% this year. The British Government puts the figure at 10% which is still a significant drop by any measure.
It is these factors that have over the last week brought Welsh, English and Scottish farmers onto the streets in pursuit of economic justice. Some have claimed that they were spurred on by the efforts of the French truck drivers who brought their country's road network to a standstill twice within the space of a year.
British farmers' action has been technically different. They have blockaded ferry ports first along the Welsh coast at Pembroke, Fishguard and Holyhead, but now throughout Britain from Dover to Stranraer. The net result is that we have to witness the spectacle of worker turning against worker in order to assert the basic right to a just income.
But why have British farmers not directed their energies against their own government whose disastrous policies brought about the worldwide bans on British beef? They have called on Tony Blair and Agriculture Secretary Jack Cunningham to help them get more EU aid, but instead of pressurising them, they attacked those not responsible for the situation.
The British farmers need also to address all the causes of their dilemma, including the EU's CAP and the currency problems caused by the deregulated financial markets on which the City of London financial services industry thrives. Why was there was no blockade in the Square Mile?
For some of the farmers, there seems to be more than a tinge of Tory imperialist attitudes in their actions. One farmer told a journalist, ``We are fed up subsidising Irish farmers all year long'' and these views have been aired frequently over the last week.
The most damning element of the dispute is the role of the Labour Government who weeks ago were demanding compensation from the French Government for the costs of the truckers strike on British business. This week they have been remarkably silent.
Budget records
Charlie McCreevy's giveaway budget broke a few records last week. Apart from the record cuts in capital gains tax and the handsome tax cuts for higher earners there was also 4% cut in corporate taxes.
This tax cut was greeted with a wave of enthusiasm on the Dublin stock exchange. The exchange's ISEQ index hit a record level adding over £1 billion to the value of shares. Bank of Ireland shares hit a record high of £10 each. AIB shares also hit record levels.
It comes as no surprise then that the banking community will be major winners from McCreevy's budget and we can all look forward to another year of record profits.
£1,450 pay a day
How much is a day's work worth these days? Well if you are lawyer at the upcoming Flood Tribunal into alleged planning abuses in the 26 Counties you could be taking home £1,450 a day for your first 30 days. After that you will have to take a pay cut to £1,400 for the next 20 days. If the tribunal runs any longer you will have take yet another pay cut and work for a miserly £1,300 a day.
Just to make it all a bit more palatable, Senior counsel will get a lump sum of £25,000 for taking a case. It's dirty work but somebody has to do it.