When Henry Dimbleby recently resigned his position as ‘food tsar’, he cited the Government’s ‘insane’ inaction against obesity. In an interview with the Times, he said: “Winston Churchill talked about the greatest asset a nation can have is the health of its people”.
 
He also quoted Andy Haldare, former chief economist of the Bank of England, who said, “The biggest problem we have in terms of productivity in this country is illness, and the workforce is not fit”.
 
“Ministers have gone back on their obesity strategy, now refusing to impose restrictions on the junk-food industry. In ten years’ time whatever government is in power they are going to be dealing with huge problems as the NHS is going to suck money from the rest of government spending and cause misery from diet related disease. Type 2 diabetes alone, a diet related disease, is projected to cost the NHS 1.5 times what treating all cancers does today."
 
“Parents are fed up with their children being marketed junk food; they want intervention, and this can happen through restricting advertising and introducing sugar and salt reformulation tax and giving people skills to cook.”
 
We need to wake up and acknowledge that obesity and lung disease will soon be the major causes of death amongst all ages. Obesity due to poor diets, lack of exercise, idleness, and ignorance. Lung disease, due to EPC targets and building regulations resulting in the population living and working in unhealthy, hermetically sealed homes and offices which are slowly killing inhabitants. Shockingly ministers appear not to be bothered, in their quest to be seen to ‘save the planet’ through some pointless net zero targets.
 
10 percent of children aged 4-5 were obese in 2021/22, with a further 12.1 percent overweight. At 10-11, 23.4 percent were obese and 14.3 percent overweight. (NHS figures)
Schools have a statutory requirement to check the weight and height of children at various stages to check their development. Despite the results being confidential, and the process being carried out with the consent of parents, some are objecting.
 
Overweight children are more likely to develop a variety of illnesses during childhood and later in life, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, dental, bone and joint problems. It also impacts on them emotionally and socially. Mr Dimbleby is right to raise these important matters very publicly.
 
These matters and others such as the importance of food security, and the very real problem of water shortage, both in the UK and globally, cannot be swept under the carpet, they must be addressed now. The health of the population, the sustainable supply of wholesome food and fresh water, are the essential ingredients which support a strong economy.
 
The authorities have taken their eye off the ball due to their obsession with issues such as: sexual orientation, political correctness, human rights, and minor environmental diktats, none of which address the most fundamental challenges facing the country.

I last visited Dubai in 2020 as support team for my son Matthew as he competed in the Dubai Iron Man. It struck me at the time how Dubai had grown but also how the landscape had altered dramatically since I was last there in 1988. Last week on returning once again for my godson Joe’s Wedding, the change in just three short years, was noticeable.
 
The sight of the desert as you come into land, is of a vast agricultural industry. Once undulating barren sand dunes have transitioned to landscapes now flattened and transformed into acres of fertile farmland.
 
The process of transforming sand into sustainable soil has taken some years. This remarkable conversion is in stark contrast to many so-called progressive parts of the world where once fertile farms have gradually been turned into deserts.
 
Green manure, where crops are specifically grown to be incorporated into the ‘soil’, raising its organic matter, and the use of waste from livestock and poultry farms, has played a huge part in this transformation.
 
A variety of crops are grown in the open with Neem trees giving protection from the heat of the sun and plant pests. Acres of beetroot, onions, potatoes, carrots, and leaf vegetables including kale, lettuce, broccoli, and cabbages. In polytunnels the size of football pitches are tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, greens, herb, and lettuces, some grown hydroponically.
 
Vertical farming, now becoming common place including in London, is very much in evidence. It is water-efficient - they say the technology enables 95% less water consumption - and allows the growing of greens in a pesticide free controlled environment. Many vertical farms are fully automated allowing ultimate plant density on an industrial scale, with energy savings, and minimum manual labour. Alongside the native dates grown in the desert, today the major fruit crops are citrus and mangoes.
 
The current population of Dubai is just over 3.5 million and growing rapidly. In time this food producing industry will enable this Emirate to be self-sufficient in fresh food.
 
The speed at which Dubai’s high-rise offices and residential buildings emerge on the skyline, often obscuring the views of once highly prized apartment blocks, is breath-taking. Sea views once enjoyed as little as three years ago, are now in the shadow of new high-rise buildings and islands have sprung up offshore on which new hotels are being built.
 
Dubai’s climate has also changed, it rains. Without fail this is due to it’s expanding ‘green belt’.
 
As our flight descends towards cold, damp England thoughts of Dubai’s sunshine swiftly melt away at the sight of our ancient woodland, green pasture and arable crops looking remarkably healthy. This sight fills me with joy and lifts my spirits as I am reminded just how fortunate we are to farm fertile land producing food with little effort. However, just like Dubai, our population is expanding, but our self-sufficiency in food production is shrinking. We ignore this at our peril.

It is concerning that the UK is importing £2 billion worth of oil a month more than it exports. This makes it increasingly clear that after decades of relying on British oil, coal and gas for heating, power, communications, and transport, having closed power stations, mines and oil fields, the country now is struggling as it is impossible to convert to ‘green energy’ overnight.
 
World resources of coal, oil and gas are reducing as countries, including the UK, have prematurely shut down existing reliable traditional supplies, depending increasingly upon the unreliable resources of wind and sun.
 
It is all very well wishing to be seen to be leading the way towards greenness, but the consequences are becoming increasingly evident that we are heading into a world which short term, does not have secure reliable energy supplies.
 
The lights really will go out, transport systems will grind to a halt, communications become fragmented, and all because politicians and environmentalist remain stubbornly set on the path to net zero, years before it is realistically achievable.
 
So, should we continue along this dodgy trajectory whilst buying in super expensive energy from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the USA? Joe Biden known to be left-leaning and climate friendly, is about to approve the Willow Project, a vast new fossil-fuel development in Alaska. As Matthew Lynn said in his Sunday Telegraph column, “He has decided the US and the world, still needs oil.”
 
The UK has the resources to be self-sufficient to keep the country moving and operating for years to come. But by wanting to be seen to be ‘doing the right thing’, but to hell with the consequences, politicians have decided not to listen to those within the industry who have warned the technology and capability are not yet in place.
 
The UK has an abundance of oil and coal, and enough shale gas for decades. Surely energy production should start at home; why spend millions on importing when a gradual reduction supports British jobs for British energy. Last week the national grid called on the remaining power stations to stand-by as temperatures dropped.
 
Huge strides are being made through research and development by companies such as JCB Power Systems which invested £110 million in the project to produce super-efficient hydrogen engines. 50 JCB combustion engines have already come off the production line. However, scientists are already warning that future drought conditions could seriously hamper this water hungry technology.
 
The Argonne National Laboratory in the US has, according to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, cracked the battery technology for electric vehicles, having discovered a way to raise the future driving range of standard EV’s to a thousand miles or more relatively cheaply without exhausting the global supply of critical minerals. Their lab experiment using a lithium-air variant, has a high enough density to power trucks, tractors, trains, and possibly mid-haul aircraft. This however is some way off in the future.

Jeremey Clarkson is right: badgers are overprotected’. Headlines such as these are rare and demonstrate how Jeremy has raised issues which when aired by farmers, the NFU, in agricultural journals, and columns such as this, have been ignored.
 
Increasingly those who previously had no interest in farming or food production are now not only interested but developing strong opinions. Good for Jeremy and his team at Diddly Squat Farm for not only appealing to the masses, but for raising issues such as badgers and planning, which impact massively on the viability of all farm businesses.
 
These matters do not often make headlines, they are mostly discussed by frustrated farmers and landowners getting together at local NFU gatherings, livestock markets and pubs, but now increasingly amongst the public.
 
As for badgers, I hope by highlighting the catastrophic effect these carriers of TB have on livestock, and farm businesses, the message may eventually filter through to ministers.
 
Badgers have been protected since 1973. Since 1980 their numbers have doubled; the current population in the UK is around 400,000, a quarter of the global population.
Surely it is time to revisit the reason why badgers require protecting, in 2023 badger baiting is no longer an issue.
 
Today the life of one badger has become more important than a valuable herd of cattle, farming enterprises, the milk and meat they produce, and dependent families. It is beyond comprehension why this situation is allowed to continue.
 
Farmers historically controlled badger numbers and protected the sets on their farms. Badgers secure their territory and prevent others moving in carrying disease, where there is little or none. However, numbers must be controlled, or they move on into new territory.
 
It is encouraging to read in the Polar Wildlife Report 2022, published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) that zoologist Dr Susan Crockford explains how ice-dependent species in the Arctic and Antarctic show no sign of impending population crashes due to lack of sea ice. She reveals that 2022 reports show that polar wildlife is not suffering because of reduced sea-ice extent: no starving polar bears or walrus, no beach-cast dead seals, no marked decline in great whale numbers and no drowned penguin chicks.
 
The decline in Antarctic penguin species and minke whale is unrelated to sea-ice cover in the Southern Ocean. Similarly, in the Arctic, a recent 27% decline in polar bear numbers in Western Hudson Bay was found unrelated to sea-ice conditions.
 
Contrary to all expectations, critical Antarctic winter sea ice has been increasing since 1979. She said computer models of future Antarctic sea ice coverage are, “seriously flawed but biologists concerned about emperor penguins have continued to use them to justify alarmist predictions.”
 
Dr Crockford concluded: “In both the Arctic and Antarctic, less summer sea ice has meant increased primary productivity, which has meant more food for the animals. This explains in part why polar wildlife continues to thrive, even in areas with much reduced summer sea-ice coverage.”