Gallic guile is hard at work (From Gazette & Herald)

Gallic guile is hard at work

ELEPHANTS and the French nation have two things in common - they both have long memories and thick skins.

Our neighbours have not forgotten - and certainly not forgiven - the British for beating them in every major battle for the last 700 years; and now are intent on revenge in the current beef war.

As to their impenetrable hides, I merely refer to the French government's failure to lift the ban on British beef three years after the European Court of Justice ruled that it was against the law.

However, what makes me really wild is that the same European Court has still not imposed any financial penalty upon France, despite David Byrne, the European Commissioner, asking for a fine of £100,000 per day.

And, furthermore, any attempt to make France pay for its misdemeanour will come to nothing if they "officially" lift the ban before the European Court makes its judgement, which is not due until well into next month.

It will not surprise you to hear that Gallic guile is hard at work to ensure that they not only pay no fines, but also achieve a continuing ban on British beef for all practical purposes.

To this end, they are introducing parallel legislation which will require all restaurants to declare on their menus the country of origin of beef.

This combined with the anti-British publicity will effectively annihilate demand for our beef, apart from, of course, the British tourist.

Although we may not like their methods, the precedent the French have set for labelling meat in restaurants could well be used to great advantage in the UK.

I am a firm believer that every restaurant, cafe and McDonalds should carry a sticker telling the consumer the country of origin and then it is up to us whether to eat it or not.

One person who chose not to eat British beef in a high profile public situation was Margaret Beckett, who helped to re-launch our British meat at an international food fair in Paris this week. Frau Beckett was seen in front of the cameras slicing away at a huge joint of sirloin and handing it out to visitors, but when asked to eat a slice herself she refused.

How on earth can a Minister of State for Rural Affairs do such a thing?

Government's quota sale flop

You may remember that I published a while ago details of the English Sheep Quota Purchase Scheme which was launched in August and is due to close at the end of October.

It seems that most sheep producers think as I do that the scheme is not only economically unattractive but also irreversible.

As of last week, only 25 producers in total had applied to join the scheme, although I am sure a few more will come in before the deadline.

Nevertheless, the total number of sheep involved amounts to less than 5,000 compared to the national flock of 15.3m sheep.

The relative buoyancy of the sheep market this autumn will have had a lot to do with the disaffection for selling quota.

Bits and pieces

It has been a week when autumn seems to have gone straight in to winter with heavy frosts and rain.

Here are a few snippets that have come on to my desk ...

New Leader for RSPCA - On Radio 4 this week there was an interview with the new lady director- general of the RSPCA, whose appointment has raised a few eyebrows because of her lack of financial experience.

A grasp of accounting principles would seem to be a fairly vital qualification for an organisation that has lost around £6m per year, but there you go - I'm sure the pet-owning spinsters of Britain will continue to empty their purses.

My argument with the new DG is to do with her attitude to the rural fraternity who own and care for the bulk of animals in this country.

She had no reluctance in stating, quite openly, that she didn't care what the Countryside Alliance thought, and indeed was pleased to see that they were concerned at her appointment.

Throw Away Passports - In the morning post, on October 21, I got a letter from DEFRA dated September 30, but that in itself is not newsworthy.

The substance of the missive was to send me a complete new batch of 50 cattle passport applications and a request to throw away all those that I had already.

The sole reason is that with the ever-lengthening digits for ear numbers, they are one box short on the old forms for the dam's ID; and rather than let us put a figure in a space without a box they have replaced them all!

Would that have happened in your business or mine?

IACS Payments Up - DEFRA has issued some provisional figures indicating that the Arable Area Payments for England will be slightly higher than predicted. The cereals rate will be around £93 per acre after modulation.

One Frog in the Grave - Judy's joke this week is somewhat near the bone for a man of my great age; so let's assume 'tis I in the tale.

My grandson came to Sunday lunch and asked me if I would do one of my frog impressions.

"What ever for?" I asked.

"Cos mummy says when you croak we can all go to Disneyland!"

Market report

Tuesday's market saw increased cattle numbers, but trade slightly less.

The clean cattle were headed by two top quality heifers from George Marwood, bought by Frank Turner for Radfords of Sleights, closely followed by Edward Hardwick's heifer at 138p, bought by Steven Hibberd.

The bulls were again headed by Frank Sellars, at 109p, also bought by Steven Hibberd.

The lambs were also slightly less, with an overall average of 96p.

The top price was £52.80 for a pen from R & L Arundale of Cropton with a top price per kilo of 107p from P W Nettleton from Driffield.

The ewes were very good to sell, averaging almost £35, with a top of £54 from Wilson Brothers of Butterwick.

Updated: 10:00 Wednesday, October 23, 2002