We must surely believe there are miracles and magic around and about at Christmas. We see the joy and anticipation in the eyes of children, and those not so young, holding onto their belief that Father Christmas really will come down the chimney bringing gifts, and hope of better things to come. Perhaps we too can hold the faith that the New Year will bring the sanity and common sense we crave, back into public life.
 
I believe we need a great deal of ‘Magic’ to put right some of the blindingly obvious wrongs which are purveying within and around our so called ‘civilised’ society.
 
Some of these have permeated deep into the very heart of some families, and increasingly through the core of our education system.
 
There is also a growing sense of perversion and the dismantling of common sense within some public authorities and organisations, resulting in tragedy as witnessed by the brutal murder of innocent children by those who should be their protectors.
 
So called ‘acceptable’ behavior, which not so long ago would not have been tolerated, have resulted in once respected influencers, including teachers, student leaders, medics, even police officers, now evading exposure because their colleagues are ‘brainwashed’ into accepting the indefensible.
 
In certain countries governments encourage, even bribe, neighbours to spy on their communities, reporting every movement, indiscretion, and dissent, to the authorities. I rather suspect that here we are indoctrinated to do the opposite - turn away, see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing - too fearful to be seen to interfere.
 
Surely there is middle ground where we consider it is our business to ensure those around us behave in a way that is civilised, considerate, acceptable, and dare I say ‘normal’, and falls within what we all wish to be a caring society.
 
Perhaps we should be curtain twitchers, inquisitive and darn right nosey. We should stand up and be counted, and be prepared to speak out, say what we must and be darned by the consequences.
 
To witness university students cowed into silence by left-wing minorities, as they recognize lecturers and student leaders spout left wing, woke clap trap, is truly shocking.  Samantha Smith an intelligent and thoughtful columnist, is in her first year as a law student at Durham University. In the Daily Mail she describes the utter despair she feels having experienced the intolerance of free speech at the university which she describes as ‘like Maoist China’. Truly shocking, but sadly not unexpected.
 
Are these once respected centers of educational excellence now really fit to teach tomorrow’s grow ups?
 
Sarah Vine names J.K. Rowling as her ‘woman of the year’. What a sensible choice. The highly intelligent author is prepared to say things as they are, by pointing out that humans are biologically male or female. There are those who clearly wish to disagree but as she made clear, the facts cannot be manipulated to suit an agenda.
 
Farmers are growing increasingly concerned that British food production is no longer a priority. It is clear the ‘environment’ and ‘net zero’, have risen to the top of Boris and Defra’s agenda. It seems the PM has been over influenced by Mrs Johnson and her eco warrior chums.
 
I am certain that before she entered the scene, Boris would have been far more interested in food, finance and the feasibility of British farmers, and a healthy countryside, than in Greta Thunberg and her mates. Sadly ‘her in doors’ has too much influence but clearly lacks a practical understanding of British agriculture and its influence and contribution to the countryside.
 
Christmas gives us all time to reflect and look forward. I am sure 2022 will see GB emerge better and stronger with the Prime Minister leading the way, with party politics and the personal vendetta towards him left behind in 2021.
 
Happy New Year

As we head towards Christmas I believe the farming community, except for some pig breeders, should be feeling positive about the coming year.

The weather has been kinder, although lacking sunshine during June, allowing us to get jobs done at the optimum time. Crops drilled this autumn are forward and healthy, which bodes well for next year’s harvest.
Grain prices are rising towards more realistic levels, and beef and lamb have seen consistently high values. What the New year brings is anyone’s guess.

Increasingly, the only reliable income for many farmers is from diversification -  ‘people farming’! This comes in many forms and greatly relies on where farms are situated.

Those living on the edge of towns and well populated villages have an advantage over our colleagues in deepest rural areas. Footfall is important as those who have been watching ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ will have seen. Traditional farming, arable crops and sheep brought him an annual profit of just £144! His farm shop did rather better.

Jeremy Clarkson is being used as an example of what is good and bad in farming and the countryside. Minette Batters, President of the NFU got onto his bandwagon and has milked it for all she is worth. He certainly did deserve the awards, if only to acknowledge that he made a wider audience aware and have a deeper understanding of the difficulties and pitfalls of everyday farming.

As the government rolls out its new programme of support for British agriculture in the form of ELMS, SFI and ‘public money for public good’, it will be interesting to see whether it catches on. Many farms are already doing exactly what these new schemes are asking, which is: environmentally friendly farming practises.

The question is whether our already high standards of land, soil and livestock management and conservation, will be recognised or taken for granted.

Who will be judging and what will be their criteria? Many farms will manage quite well without government support; it is the isolated, and tenant farmers I worry about.

For tenant farmers, investing in what is essentially another man’s land and buildings, is a risky business. However, there are clearly opportunities opening as the countryside shrinks as towns and cities expand their boundaries into greenfield sites, as the population of houses increase at a ridiculous rate.

The trade body OGUK suggests that if new oil and gas projects do not move forward, domestic production will plummet. Blocking proposed oil and gas fields would risk leaving consumers more exposed to soaring energy bills and fuel shortages.

The report predicts that gas output could fall up to 75% by 2030, leaving the UK heavily reliant on imported energy. According to the latest official figures, the UK paid Norway £5.2 billion for gas and £6.1 billion for crude oil. Russia £524 million for gas and £3.2 billion for oil, and the USA £2.8 billion for crude oil.

Nicola Sturgeon has said the Cambo oil gas field should not be given the go-ahead. And Wales vowed to stop licensed oil and gas production. The future of the Cumbrian coke mine, an essential component for British Steel production, is yet to be decided.

Diedre Michie, Chief Executive of OGUK, said: “The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry is committed to helping the government meet its ambitious net zero goals. We accept all the science around climate change and the need to cut emissions, but this transition must be managed.”

“If we cut our own supplies of gas and oil faster than we can reduce demand then we will have to import more of what we need. Our import bills will go up without any reduction in emissions”.
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Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and a safe, healthy, and fully vaccinated New Year.

Families, friendship, and communities are the glue which keep us safe, together, civilised, and sane. When these structures break down the repercussions can be catastrophic and life changing, as we have witness in the horrific murder of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

How the abuse inflicted on Arthur, and other innocent children, go unnoticed by families and the authorities in the 21st century is difficult to understand. Sadly, Arthur is a casualty of a ‘sickness’ which has crept through modern Britain, where people do not wish to get involved, closing their eyes and ears.

Boris says he will leave no stone unturned to find out what happened. It is however clear that social workers are overwhelmed by our ‘broken’ society with its low morals, lack of respect for authority, and little support from the very communities which should be looking out for their own.

The challenge for Boris and his ministers, and for that matter every one of us, is to get involved, raise the profile and importance of ‘traditional families’, family values and communities. To instil in everyone just how vital it is for children and future generations, to get involved, leave no family or stone unturned and create a more caring world where children are cherished and safe.

The Government should be applauded in its ambition to reach Net Zero by 2050. However, although we all wish to ‘save the planet’, and of course ensure our children and grandchildren have a safe world to live in, it should be recognised that things cannot change or be banned overnight, including oil & LPG by 2026, or mains gas by 2035.

It will be illegal to install or replace modern, affordable, efficient oil and gas fired boilers in our properties. Instead, we will be made to fit expensive, less efficient ground or air sourced heating systems, powered by electricity.

These we know can work, and probably quite well in new build homes designed for this technology. The alternative is to retro fit expensive underfloor heating, cladding and lagging outside and in, and instal larger radiators.

Those living in pre 1930 properties, can be sure we could never, without pulling them apart, achieve a state where we could live comfortably and economically.

There is a village in Sussex where there were plans to heat 50 per cent of the homes along the high street, by District Heating (DH) laying Pipework from a central biomass boiler. The properties are old, many built hundreds of years ago, and it soon became obvious that any pre 1930s, could not be adapted to this type of heating.

It was then decided to scrap the DH system and adapt only post 1930s properties to a system of ground sourced heat pumps, drilled deep into back gardens. This too was discarded when recognised as far too expensive and inadequate, as they would not heat the homes sufficiently despite considerable insulation costs.

The final attempt to win round the residents and the landlord was, once removing existing oil tanks, (there is no mains gas in the village), to install individual air sourced electric heat pumps.

Fortunately, once all the implications, including costs, were considered, the scheme has been abandoned, for now.

Last week the Daily Mail reported the story of a similar scheme which has been planned in Swaffham Park, Cambridgeshire. Here the local council has spent over £12 million, plus a £3.2 million Government grant – on a community heating system, powered by a ground sourced heat pump.
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It was meant to be a test bed for how all properties could be heated. However, only a limited number of households signed up, so it has so far ended up costing more than £250,000 per house. As Ross Clark said, that is as much as some of these homes are worth. I rest my case.

Farming and the countryside seem to be ‘the ‘hot topic’, if you ignore Covid, travel bans, channel crossings, too much hot air and CO2 escaping from Westminster, and the rest.

We know that most of what happen in the countryside stems from what farmers produce, and how we do it.
Whilst feeding the nation we are largely responsible for the staggering beauty of countryside. But most of the time we are ignored and certainly without doubt taken for granted. However, as soon as supermarket shelves look empty, prices rise, David Handley gets out his soap box, environmentalists block highways and minorities demand we all become vegan, the focus of attention turns to us.

Farmers are some of the sanest, hardworking, practical, and sensible key workers. However, we do not appreciate being taken for granted, told what the ‘industry’ will pay for our produce, or how our land should be managed, particularly by those who clearly haven’t got a clue.

As we cannon towards an ill-thought-out policy of ‘public money for public good’, we can see a grim road crash approaching. Just as with tree planting, one cap does not fit all. The right tree or ‘policy’ needs to be positioned in the right place. This blanket approach to ‘access to the countryside’, certainly should not be imposed upon us all

There are days when one wants to say, “stop the world I want to get off”. They come round increasingly frequently, triggered, that seems to be the ‘in’ word, by an alarming escalation of inappropriate demands, comments and headlines voiced by the politicised ‘wokery’, brigade.

I nearly crashed my car on Sunday as I listened to the Food & Farming Awards repeat on Radio 4. To my utter disbelief, the presenter when introducing one of the categories stated, “Meat is a controversial subject”. Really? Says who? Should BBC presenters be telling us what to think?

Last week the farming press confirmed my fears that politics is driving the agricultural and countryside agenda. Farm groups have identified an employee of the Environment Agency, Tim Bailey, currently working on Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), who distributed pro-vegan posts on social media, and spoke at an Animal Rebellion march. He has also written a book, Livestock’s Longer Shadow, and recently encouraged people to fund a vegan buy-out of dairy grazing pastureland, for the purpose of rewilding and creating a ‘community veganic orchard’! Should such people be employed by the public funded EA?

Misinformation is also alive and well, as social media ‘influencer’ Sophie Church promotes Tesco’s Plant Chef range to her 22,000 followers.

Kriss Woodhead, known as Super Serious Farmer on Instagram, brought to her attention that the ingredients used for Tesco vegan burgers include – palm oil and reconstructed grain proteins – which are no better for the planet or people’s health. He said “Someone needs to call Tesco out as grass fed British lamb is far better for the planet, and the benefits of shopping locally and seasonally are unquestionable. Ms Church has since deleted her blog/advert but probably not before some gullible shoppers bought the stuff.

Should we be harangued each morning by Republican, Russian stooge, anti-conservative Amol Rajan? The BBC really is scraping the barrel and bringing up debris.

Despite all the gloom, I shall certainly stick around a while longer as GB’s economy is fighting back. University heads are standing up to those intent on cancelling history, and some female MPS are upholding ‘biological Women’s’ rights and protecting standards in the House of Commons.
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Boris is artfully batting away the spiteful brick bats from green eyed Dominic Cummings, the left leaning media, ‘Red Wall’ MPs and No 11. Those who consider Rishi Sunak to be PM material are well off the mark as he totally lacks leadership qualities or charisma, although his ambition is clear.