Roger Helmer MEP

Straight Talking

This is what Roger had to say recently in his Straight Talking article for October:



"You can’t please all of the people all of the time


One thing I’m learning about politics is that whatever position you take on an issue, someone will be upset – and it’s a general rule of life that while the winners go away quietly, the losers make a lot of noise.



I’ve just published a blog posting on the Nocton Dairy project in Lincolnshire. I understand the concerns of local residents, and I know that if I lived in Nocton I’d be concerned, and very likely joining the campaign group. They have a perfect right to make their views known, and to argue their case, and they are doing so with vigour. But as a politician, I have to make a judgement, balancing those very local concerns with broader questions like jobs and investment in Lincolnshire, British food security and the balance of payments.

And having taken the trouble to go to the site and spend some time looking at the project, I’ve formed the view that the local impacts are relatively limited, while the benefits could be substantial. I think that the local Planning Authority should give it serious consideration."



Strange though that Roger didn't see fit to mention in his diary commitments that he was meeting with local residents this morning at The Chequers, Potterhanworth for a presentation/discussion on the Nocton Dairies saga. It is only to be hoped that an alternative viewpoint has been offered to the one gained from the Nocton Dairy consortium.



http://www.rogerhelmer.com/



More about Roger here:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Helmer

Report from Presentation

The following updates have been received and noted:



Update 31 October



'The Ecology Dialogue' - a short blog entry about Mr Helmer's visit courtesy of Steve Marshall



http://www.photo-dialogue.com/home/2010/10/30/the-ecology-dialogue.html



Update 1 November



'Meeting the Nocton Mega-Dairy Protesters' - Roger's own blog entry of his visit to meet the local campaign group.



http://rogerhelmermep.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/meeting-the-nocton-mega-dairy-protesters/



The following is a short report from the meeting provided by a member of  CAFFO:



'On Saturday morning, members of CAFFO, local and other people with concerns about the proposed Super Dairy including a representative from WSPA , two former dairy famers and Bill Newton Dunn (Liberal Democrat MEP) met with Roger Helmer, the region's Conservative MEP.



Ian Glaister (CAFFO), Ian Cawsey (WSPA) and Peter Lundgren (a former dairy farmer) began the meeting with a detailed presentation to Mr Helmer on the operation of the proposed Super Dairy in terms of its potential negative and harmful effects on the local environment, public health and animal welfare and the economics and long-term sustainability of large-scale milk production. This was followed by an informal, but detailed, discussion of these issues with Mr Helmer. Mr Helmer responded to the various concerns which had been raised and explained why, on balance, he had previously concluded that the benefits of the Super Dairy in terms of employment, investment and the future of the dairy industry outweighed any disbenefits. He did, however, sympathise with the concerns of residents and was prepared to listen to them.



The discussions took place in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. Whilst Mr Helmer appeared to remain unconvinced as to concerns around the economic and animal welfare issues, he admitted that he had been completely unaware of the fact that the Super Dairy was to be sited above the area's fragile aquifer. He clearly understood that this was likely to be a matter of significant importance. Nor had he appreciated the potential effects on public health as a consequence of the enormous volumes of slurry and digestate which would be produced. As such, and given his previous campaigning experience against planning applications for wind farms, he strongly advised objectors to the Super Dairy to concentrate their efforts on these two particular issues.



Mr Helmer was also made aware of the complete failure so far on the part of the developers to engage with the local community in a meaningful and constructive way on their proposal. Again, Mr Helmer seemed genuinely surprised at this. He therefore offered to forward any questions on which residents had been unable to get satisfactory answers direct to the applicants in an effort to obtain a response. It was agreed, however, that this offer would not be taken up until any revised planning application had been submitted.



In conclusion, it was felt that the meeting had been very useful exercise and Ian Glaister thanked Mr Helmer for taking the time to attend. It was clear that in listening to local people, Mr Helmer had gained a more balanced view as to all of the issues associated with the proposed development. From his comments, it appeared that he was now aware that the environmental and health concerns could potentially be sufficiently serious for planning permission to be refused. Whether or not, of course, the meeting changed his view on the desirability of Super Dairies in general or at Nocton in particular, remains to be seen.'


Another interesting article...

Industrial Agriculture and Human Survival: The Road Beyond 10/10/10

A few small extracts to whet your appetite - is this really what we want here in the UK?



"A new generation of food and climate activists understands that greenhouse gas-belching fossil fuels, industrial food and farming, and our entire global economy pose a mortal threat, not just to our present health and well being, but also to human survival."



"Injecting genetically engineered hormones into dairy cows to force them to give more milk is reckless and dangerous. Monsanto's genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone rBGH, now marketed by Eli Lilly, increases the risks of breast, prostate, and colon cancer for those who consume the milk. It also severely damages the health of the cows."



"Currently GMO and industrial/factory farms (energy and chemical-intensive) farms emit at least 25% of the carbon dioxide (mostly from tractors, trucks, combines, transportation, cooling, freezing, and heating); 40% of the methane (mostly from massive herds of animals belching and farting, and manure ponds); and 96% of nitrous oxide (mostly from synthetic fertilizer manufacture and use, the millions of tons of animal manure from factory-farmed cattle herds, pig and poultry flocks, and millions of tons of sewage sludge spread on farms)."



"Almost all U.S. food and farm-derived methane comes from factory farms, huge herds of confined cows, hogs, and poultry operations, in turn made possible by heavily subsidized ($15 billion per year) GMO soybeans, corn, cottonseed, and canola; as well as rotting food waste thrown into landfills instead of being separated out of the solid waste stream and properly composted."



Read more... much more here:



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronnie-cummins/industrial-agriculture-an_b_766937.html

Food Agenda 2020: A National Petition on Agricultural Solutions for Climate Change and Health

If interested, sign the petition here:



http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4442