Cut the red tape and pay farms their due
THERE is never a better time of year to enjoy the countryside than early summer, and none more so than this year after the cold, wet spring. It’s a time of rapid growth in gardens, fields and hedgerows. Some of this is natural, some cultivated under the Countryside Stewardship environmental scheme, which provides financial incentives for farmers to conserve and restore wildlife habitats. These increasingly important ecosystems, supporting vast amounts of our insect and bird population, are created under a voluntary initiative run jointly by Natural England and the Rural Payments Agency, funded by the EU, and delivered by farmers. The countryside should be a healthy, harmonious and happy place for all creatures great and small. So why is Countryside Stewardship faltering in its popularity? The scheme in principle has the support of most farmers, who know that the loss of wildlife, especially bees and other pollinating insects, would have a detrimental effect on our ability to feed an ever-increasing population. However, some farmers can’t face the thought of a lengthy application of 466 pages of options, rules and regulations. Applicants are turned off by having to measure, map, photograph and supply all the supporting documentation within Natural England’s strict timetable. Whatever happened to the government promise of less red tape for agriculture? The lucky ones accepted into a Countryside Stewardship agreement then have to do endless amounts of towards self- respect and self-control.
Harsh, I know, but that’s how it was and the current Government is not responsible for what happened then. J. COLEGATE, Bexley, London. UNMARRIED mothers forced to give up their babies in the Sixties is sad, but not new.
When a friend and I discussed this issue, we discovered her mother-in-law and my mother were pregnant out of wedlock in the Thirties. They were packed off to Mother and Baby homes and given training for future work. The babies were put up for adoption. This is an age-old issue not confined to the Sixties.
L. GADSBY, Truro, Cornwall.
What’s to whine for?
I AM NoT happy. The England football team has progressed beyond the group stage of the World Cup; our cricket team has whitewashed Australia; Lewis Hamilton is top of the Formula one leaderboard; the weather is glorious, and is record-keeping: grazing activities; field operations; sward height measurements and building maintenance logs, to name just a few. What farmer would want to burden themselves with all that paperwork? Payments twice a year throughout the five-year lifetime of the agreement should be an incentive. But the Rural Payments Agency has failed to deliver. Many farmers are yet to receive a single pound since joining the scheme in January 2017 and are tearing up their forecast to remain so for the duration of my holiday in the Isles of Scilly; the Duchess of Sussex keeps the Royal Family as popular as ever; and despite the efforts of an undemocratic minority, Brexit will go ahead.
Why am I not happy? Because I have nothing to complain about! JOHN WHAPSHOTT, Westbury, Wiltshire.
Nuclear heroes
LIKE Colin Moir (Letters), I am a veteran of the British nuclear tests and believe the award of a medal would be justified.
I took part in the A-bomb trials at Maralinga, South Australia, in 1957. An unofficial medal with a red-and-white ribbon was available through the British Legion, but not sanctioned by the MoD.
I have long believed an official award should be made to those who took part because we were subjected to radiation. Indeed, some have suffered from cancer and died, possibly due to this.
Though there are only a few veterans surviving, it is to be hoped that serious consideration agreements and walking away. Defra put aside £230 million in 2017 in preparation for the EU fines it expects for failing to deliver UK farm subsidies. This is a substantial financial loss for agriculture and the UK economy. If Environment Secretary Michael Gove wants a healthy and harmonious countryside, which delivers public goods for public money, he must stick to the deal, maintain our farmers’ confidence and pay up. JAMES STUBBS, Northallerton, N. Yorks. of an award will be given by Parliament and the MoD. DAVID VETCH, Horley, Surrey. IN MY long career as an NHS ear, nose, throat, head and neck consultant, I’ve met only one nuclear test veteran.
His rare condition had nothing to do with the A-bomb tests, but I had first-hand experience of the anguish these veterans went through.
They feel let down and uncared for by the very people who engineered their exposure to nuclear explosions. The least that could be done would be to grant them a medal.
Dr A.L. PAHOR, Birmingham.