Respect for Prue Leith

We don't do those either in Wiltshire, but I'd have thought someone as well informed as you would know that!

Wiltshire is one region of the UK I have never been to.

I voted remain, really wish we had, and do have serious concerns for the UK's future. However, as far as I'm aware, more farmers voted Brexit than remain. I suppose they must have thought it served their interests best at the time?

They were told we would have a Great Deal, with full access to EU markets, without tarifs, and with the same or better farming standards. They now know the truth.

Minette Batters could not have chosen a more difficult time to become the first female president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). “Things could go massively wrong and it could decimate the industry,” she tells me at the NFU’s London headquarters. “It could destroy lives and livelihoods and families, and that is in the back of my mind at all times.”

The threat comes from a chaotic Brexit, which she has been fighting from the moment of her election in February last year. Her warning is grave: “If the government does forget about agriculture, if they do flood us with cheap ingredients that would be illegal for us to produce here, it would make what happened to coal and steel look like a walk in the park.”

Batters says Brexit has been “a face-slapping moment” for farming. Along with the climate emergency, it has forced the industry to think hard about sustainable agriculture. Batters’s approach has changed the NFU from a table-thumping defender of what farmers want to an organisation that is prepared to challenge what its members think is in their best interests.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/08/minette-batters-brexit-has-been-face-slapping-moment-farming

They were told we would have a Great Deal, with full access to EU markets, without tarifs, and with the same or better farming standards. They now know the truth.

You seem to think it's OK that farmers believed what they were told and ignored "project fear" yet want apologies from others who voted leave because they believed the spin. There were enough remain voters like me that saw the claims were unrealistic, surely farmers should also have realised no club gives non-members a better deal than its members. We're all going to be paying dearer for our food because they believed they were going to do well from leaving.

Not only did many farmers vote leave but they put huge placards up in their fields to influence other people. That's what annoys me. The NUF advised them to vote remain I believe.

Sorry Prue, but it's a bit late now, isn't it!!

Pointless virtue signalling.

None of the farmers I know voted Leave. I believe it's somewhere around 53% who did. Which means that a very significant number didn't. I don't think that the leave voting farmers quite envisaged leaving as turning out the way it is.

biba70

Wiltshire is one region of the UK I have never been to.

You must go!
It's an ancient, atmospheric area.
Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock, Salisbury cathedral, the White Horse, lots of lovely towns and villages.

Oh yes, of course. We did go and visit in the early 70s- when you go go and pcinic at Stonehenge and walk around freely. Must go back again.

biba70

Oh yes, of course. We did go and visit in the early 70s- when you go go and pcinic at Stonehenge and walk around freely. Must go back again.

Alternatively you could pay the entrance fee as it is now run by English Heritage

I don't think that the leave voting farmers quite envisaged leaving as turning out the way it is.

That will be the same as lots of leave voters then. I just find it strange that farmers are given a pass, while others are expected to grovel, wear sackcloth and admit they were duped, if not totally stupid. 53% for leave is actually slightly higher than the country as a whole.

biba
We first went then to Stonehenge, probably about 1969 and quite by coincidence it was the summer Solstice. The Druids (proper Druids) were holding a ceremony.

You can still walk around and touch the stones at Avebury I think.

Yes,I know you can still go- but it is like a cattle market now- and has totally lost its appeal. I am so glad I got to go when it was still a very natural site- but I had forgotten it is in Wiltshire (apologies).

I’ll never forget travelling in that area a few years ago. I didn’t realise that Stonehenge was nearby. We’d just seen Red Kites fly overhead and then suddenly Stonehenge appeared in the distance. It was magical.

Don't forget the Warminster UFOs.

Wiltshire is a very mysterious county.

Wonder if she has pointed out to her son that children need food. He is one Tory MP who voted against the motion last week.
Ps Marcus Rashford' s petition is now close to having a million signatures. How happy would you be if yours were the millionth signature?
Pps Wales and Scotland have put in place the means to feed our children past the Easter holidays but am pleased that our MP's voted in favour (apart from the pathetic few Scottish Tories).

Perhaps she's too busy cooking meals for children who would otherwise not be getting a meal through half-term.
Or perhaps not.
mcem I really do think the Scottish and Welsh MP s should have abstained, I am very annoyed with our MP for voting against when Wales has decided otherwise.