Beware the power behind the throne

MY long-held suspicions that we are in an era of government by mistress were only confirmed when I heard that Carrie Symonds has been demanding George Eustice’s head on a plate.

His crimes, apparently, are that he has been getting too close to the farmers and that he is too soft on welfare.

I should just remind Ms Symonds that in the much-lamented absence of a stand-alone agriculture ministry Defra is the government agency that concerns itself with agricultural affairs in this country and thus farming is part of George’s brief.

And that he is doing the best he can to stay plugged into the farming world the better to inform the decisions he has to make. Because the last thing we need, Carrie dear, is someone who sounds off on a subject they know damn-all about, isn’t it?

I will dismiss her remarks about George being soft on welfare because the fact is we uphold extremely high welfare standards in this country. Which is precisely why, when isolated lapses are detected and the culprits brought to court, it makes such a large impact.

Anyway, if George is close to the world of farming that’s equally because the farming lobby is doing its best to keep him informed of developments, opinions and issues – which is how lobbying works.

And after all Carrie should realise the importance of getting close to the person you are trying to influeyelashes. ence because she’s expert at doing so. Take the example of what happened last autumn when she was lobbied by the Badger Trust over the scheduled badger cull in Derbyshire and immediately got close to the PM on the trust’s behalf with the result that the cull was promptly cancelled.

The extraordinary hold Wallis Simpson had over Edward Duke of Windsor has often been speculated about in the kind of detail that cannot possibly be discussed here. But the PM appears to be similarly ensnared if he can simultaneously chuck out the science, condemn Derbyshire dairy farmers to years of misery and penury, and land the Treasury with another massive (and entirely avoidable) compensation bill just because Carrie flutters her Or something.

But this whole situation raises some very worrying implications for farmers. Not only is the joint incumbent of Number 10 starting to dictate farming policy – and running down the minister who should be in charge of it – we have had the prospect of both the RSPB and the National Trust demanding a say in how postBrexit farming support money should be divvied up: an issue which is nothing whatsoever to do with them.

Sadly the farming lobby is being hopelessly out-boxed when it comes to influencing Government policy – and Minette Batters should now realise that it takes a lot more than a picture in one of the farming journals of her standing gurning next to the PM to convince us that she is having any impact whatsoever on shaping it.

The animal welfare, wildlife and environmental lobbies are far better breeched, to the extent that they can remain permanently encamped in Westminster while knowing full well that if their funds start to fall short there are scores of celebrities who will leap at the chance of some selfpromotion in return for topping them up.

I may not have a lot of time for George Eustice but in contrast to the long list of know-nothings who have occupied the post previously he at least comes from a farming background and knows what he is talking about. The big question is how much longer he will be allowed to do so.