English farmers, already on the ropes following a Foot and Mouth outbreak and a bluetongue outbreak in quick succession, are going to have to pay for DEFRA’s response to the outbreaks.
Setting aside the fact that this is DEFRA’s job, the Foot and Mouth outbreak originated in a British government research facility – why should English farmers pay the British government to clear up their own mess?
The levy which DEFRA intends to force English farmers to pay should raise about £40m. This co-incides with the announcement yesterday that the British government is planning to cut DEFRA’s budget by £300m.
DEFRA is already a hopelessly inefficient and incompetent agency, cutting £300m off their budget is a fatal blow for the English farming industry which unfortunately relies on DEFRA for support and funding. The budget cuts will leave DEFRA under-financed and under-resourced and even less capable of dealing with a serious incident in future.
Still, there aren’t many farms in London are there?
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Is it just me or is it strange that the amount that DEFRA’s budget is being cut, is about the same as the fine for not making the payments to farmers fine from the EU?