Comment – Enjoy your (British) pigs in (British) blankets, but don’t turn a blind eye
As yours truly sits here, and it’s gone dark (at 4pm!), the writing of this piece has been postponed several times due to more pressing matters, ie chopping kindling, leading baskets of logs, peeling potatoes etc..
I thought it would be useful to list the things I’m not writing about today:
- The BBC’s banning of playing the UK’s no 1 downloaded single , the snappily titled ‘freezing this Christmas’ by (wait for it) Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers, I honestly was convinced that this was a internet induced rabbit hole, but no, its a thing.
- The EU-Mercosur trade deal. We thought we had it bad when Liz Truss was doing the ‘cheese deal’ with Australia,, check this out. Sounds familiar?
- This years brussels sprout crop will be 25% bigger, it must be true, the Guardian said it last week here. That is obviously good news for some of us.
- Elon Musk has bought the rights to Father Christmas… no I made that one up, sorry.
It’s been a busy year for everyone, and it’s been, and still is difficult for many, so instead I thought a positive message of encouragement might be useful. Amidst the smoke and noise of Christmas and screaming headlines, its worth remembering that the great British public needs the farmers three times a day, and in a febrile world, home produced food should be at a premium. I know we can chunter on about fair prices for produce, and that many farmers are price takers, not price makers, but even so, the industry hasn’t let us down yet.
When I sit down on Wednesday to the turkey, I want to have a moment and remember that there are others who are struggling, and that we are in a very fortunate position.
I hope you enjoy a restful break and may I wish you a very Happy Christmas.
Andy
PS if you feel the need there is always Shelter and the Salvation Army who need some help at this time of year.
