Letters

Bad EU deal is totally unacceptable

I am amazed at the shortsighted attitude of many Remainers.

The decision to leave the EU was a long-term one, based on the fact that we have the fifth biggest economy in the world, and we have a long history of being successful global traders.

The fact that the EU is making it as difficult as possible for us, is not a sufficiently good reason for caving in to all its demands, both political and financial.

The time has come to stand up and be counted. We are a great nation, and will continue to be so outside the anti-democratic and domineering EU.

Any deal that restricts us from entering into trade agreements with other countries outside the EU is a bad deal, and is totally unacceptable. We have as a nation just thrown ourselves back fully 50 years

Theresa May has done her best. And those bunch of twofaced twerps that we are forced to accept as our leaders due to this flimsy electoral system where we are not compelled to vote by law has done for the nation yet again.

As they knew it would . Wait now for the wealthy and the privileged to close the doors of Europe behind them.

And then to beat the poor into submission again and again on any issue that they wish to.

I think I would rather live under a dictator then see the proud British nation run into the ground by a bunch of twofaced fools .

This could turn into civil war here at home and the British could be turned on when they are abroad.

And turn on each other here in this their own country it’s madness .

Have another vote. Go back to the people and make everyone vote or fine them or send them to jail if they do not .

Then and only then will I shut up because frankly the election system in this country stinks .

I am broken hearted at leaving Europe and when we are at war because we can’t see that is why we need to be in Europe then please forgive me if I say ‘I told you so’.

Make everyone vote in second referendum Fed up with moans about inequality

I am getting a little bid fed up when I turn on my TV to hearing women moan about the inequality between men and women, be it on wages, in the board room or in just about all walks of life

I have worked in many offices where women have been paid more than me for doing the same job and have been promoted above me.

I did not get angry I just got on with the job in hand.

After all my female colleague might well have been better at the job, having done it for longer than me.

Perhaps real equality will come about when a gorgeous woman gets on a bended knee proposes marriage to a man whilst offering him a diamond ring. Or would that be pushing equality too far?

Make it easier to give feedback

Please provide a phone number and not just a website address when asking for readers’ feedback. Your excellent article on hedgehogs asked for sightings to be reported, but again, no phone number.

Call Hedgehog Street on 01584 890801, Ms Cameron and ask them if you can report hedgehog sightings by ‘phone - Editor For me there’s no finer sight on a bright autumn afternoon. A long, straggling crocodile of dairy cows heading home for milking as a westering sun casts golden light on their gleaming coats.

With the Brookfield cows still out on pasture, it’s a sight ramblers across the Borsetshire countryside can still enjoy at this time of year. And if they’re anything like me it brings on a warm glow of comfort in a troubled world. No matter what threats surround us on the international scene, in village England cows are still coming in for afternoon milking. Like the ravens in The Tower, it’s a sign that all is well in the kingdom.

Unfortunately not everyone in the kingdom sees it this way. To some dairy cows are enemies of the planet, unleashing climate mayhem and stoking environmental catastrophe. Enemies of people too, producing foods that are far from healthy.

The truth is it depends on how they’re managed. Herds that are housed in sheds for much of the year and fed on cereal grains – as many are today – do indeed have a negative impact on our environment. And the type of fat found in their milk doesn’t do much to enhance human health either.

The good news is not all milk is the same. Milk produced the Brookfield way – from cows grazing on clover-filled pastures – is just about the most nutritious food around, especially when it’s drunk raw and untreated, the way most farmers drink it. It’s a fair bet that Pip Archer and her brothers Josh and Ben take their milk in this untreated, natural form.

There’s also evidence that cows grazing herb-filled pastures in the traditional way lock up more carbon in the soil than they emit in the form of environmentallydamaging methane gas. So when Pip walks the cows in on a golden autumn afternoon she knows she’s making the nation a little healthier and the countryside a little more resilient to climate change.

Which must give her satisfaction and pride in the job. At least I hope so. Imagine what would happen if she lost interest and the cows were to go. It’s likely the pasture fields would be sprayed off with weedkiller and the land planted with wheat and rapeseed. We know from experience what the result would be – more pesticide sprays, more soil erosion, fewer birds and insects. The countryside would be impoverished.

Dairy cows in the fields have been part of our rural scene for over a century. The great expansion took place in the 1920s following the development of the railways. For the first time a perishable food could be transported quickly to Britain’s towns and cities. Dairy farms became a familiar part of the rural landscape, particularly in the Westcountry. Sadly many have now vanished from the countryside.

In Ambridge there’s been a dairy herd at Brookfield for more than 60 years. Back in the early 1950s Pip’s greatgrandparents, Dan and Doris Archer, ran a herd of Dairy Shorthorns, a traditional breed that thrived on pasture.

Today Pip and the family run crossbred cows which include Jersey and British Friesian genetics.

They’re lean, lively cattle with colours ranging from tawny to deep brown and black. But like the Shorthorns of the 1950s they’re flourishing on the clover-filled grassland and producing highly-nutritious milk.

Fortunately, many Westcountry dairy farmers have remained true to the principle of keeping cows in their natural environment, pasture. Some like Pip at Brookfield have made a real virtue of it.

Among them is an old friend of mine, Devon farmer Geoff Sayers.

Some years ago he and I shared a conference platform in Totnes. We were both speaking on the health benefits of milk from grassfed cows along with the environmental benefits of cows grazing fertile pastures. Under the name of the Carswell Group, Geoff now runs three grass-fed herds across the Westcountry producing about seven million litres of organic milk annually. The cows are out grazing fresh pasture for at least nine months of the year.

The cows stay healthy because they’re on their natural diet, and we consumers get to drink milk and eat dairy products that are unrivalled in their nutritional value.

Some eco-fundamentalists want dairy cows removed from the countryside. But

I’m hoping farms like Brookfield will continue to thrive. In my view we’re all better off when the cows are out.

Under the name of the Carswell Group, Geoff Sayers now runs three grass-fed herds across the Westcountry producing about seven million litres of organic milk annually