Chlorinated chicken could be a luxury

THE DEFRA Secretary of State has said that since British food standards are protected by a promise in the latest Conservative Party election manifesto it was, therefore, not necessary to vote for the House of Lords amendment to the Agriculture Bill in the Commons this week.

We all know that not every election promise, by any party, becomes the law of the land. For example, the Opposition is now trying to re-invent itself by changing almost everything it stood for, except its name. Repetition is no sin, politicians do it all the time. Conversely, when there is an opportunity to re-affirm a good intention, so openly avoided, the smell of rat is over-powering.

I think HMG is trying to suspend such a commitment until after the presidential election in the USA. If Trump gets another four years, global warming will probably be irreversible.

Even if he loses, the malicious damage he could do between the election and his successor’s inauguration might be huge, after working-up his mainly ignorant supporters with guns into a highly damaging mass-hysteria, when the human race won’t be arguing about food standards as the shrinking democratic world will be fighting to prevent mass-extinction.

Then, even chlorinated chicken will be the height of luxury, which us war-babies won’t mind, having suffered harsher food rationing after the end of World War II than when German U-Boats were still sinking our ships while trying to starve us into submission, for the second time in the 20th century. I doubt today’s youngsters would cope very well with a third attempt, especially if Covid-19 re-infection is a lot worse the second time around.

Tony Maskell Newton Ferrers