Look at the Winners

“Policy no longer reflects the real world but rather the supposed pressures of public opinion as asserted by those who seek to form it. The silent majority is very silent.”

Sir Stephen Hastings 1994

“Protesting farmers just don’t get it. They need to look at the winners of any policy. It stinks and is the biggest attack on working people since Thatcher.”

I was taken aback by the fear and alarm in her eyes and voice. The lady I met briefly for coffee in Peterborough I last knew as a firebrand activist nearly forty years ago. She is a keen and active trade unionist and socialist and had occasionally commented on my blogs as I posted over the last five years. We are politically opposite in many ways. I consider myself a “homeless Conservative” and in my youth she called me “Tory boy” in our occasional arguments. I consider her a die-hard socialist so to hear her apparently supporting land-owning farmers surprised me. However, she was brought up on a farm in a tied house and has worked in both farming and the food industry. As is the nature of our times, she avoids commenting publicly outside her job role as it could endanger her livelihood and income upon which her young family depends. So, with her consent I will call her JB.

JB is a keen fighter for people and their rights and “does” rather than “talks”. In her various roles she has attended conferences of various parties, most notably Labour, Green and Conservative parties. She has low regard for social media, podcasts and bloggers  describing them as, “ a load of inadequate keyboard warriors who sit there wanking whilst revealing how irrelevant they are on the internet.”  JB is highly knowledgeable and works hard for the rights of workers in the agricultural and food sector across borders.

The reason JB wished to speak to me is that she felt, “I get it” and she is tired of trying to get people to take her seriously.

She explained to me that policy is, in her experience, developed in the side rooms and meetings at political party conferences with Labour and Green more disciplined than Conservatives or (her words) “those jokers Reform”. She made it clear that conferences as portrayed in the media are not typically an example of free speech, but a showcasing. She explained to me that over the last few years, and especially the last two she has repeatedly tried to explain to people what she perceived happening to be dismissed as a “conspiracy theorist” and had been advised “to shut up.”

The one thing I’ve learned over the years is that the greatest gift you can give a person (especially, but not exclusively farmers) is to listen. So I listened and, with her consent, recorded our conversation for ease of recall.

“You see, Andy[i] farmers simply do not get it. They are so focused on arguments about inheritance tax, food security and fair prices they have not grasped the idea of who the winners are. Even the supermarkets are waking up to the idea that they may be losers as their cosy little money-spinner is dissolved. In recent years I have attended conferences of three different parties, and what has struck me is the common groups of people that turn up at all three seeking to steer policy. You do realize there are even Tories and Tory backers that are quite happy to see family businesses subject to inheritance tax? They’re all cunts pissing in the same pot whilst pretending to be champions of the environment. You see, it’s like this, the two groups that are unaffected by inheritance tax are quoted companies and ‘community’ organisations or charities like the National Trust, County Wildlife Trusts and the new breed of ‘environmental’ charities being formed by the nouveau-rich bastards that have made a mint out of failed energy providers and crap regulation or filch money out of the system that we pay into in the name of being green. These cunts are clever with pockets full of cash and buy off studies and papers that Universities happily produce to fulfill their brief.[ii]  These wankers then prime the likes of Starmer and Reeves, and Johnson before them with their bullshit ideas and policies.”

At this point I interrupted the rant, “Wow, hold up. I understand why people think you are a conspiracy theorist if you rant like this. You need to channel your anger and use more reason.”

JB paused, drank her coffee then continued, “I rant to you because I know I’m safe. The problem is that I have observed this happening with my own eyes and put the jigsaw together. You’ve heard of James Rebanks?”

“Yes,” I said, “I’ve read his Pastoral farming book, but personally don’t like what other people make of it as too many view it as the only method of regenerative farming.”

“OK, put that to one side. You and I both know regenerative farming has its place in many forms to be both good for soil and reduce farming costs. But those now in power view him as a museum artefact of the evils of farming. Believe me I heard them say he is a vestige of all that is wrong with the English countryside. Regenerative farming is regarded as a fetish that’s worshipped without thought. Farming is considered economically unproductive and of little value to the Nation. They view it as an environmentally destructive and cruel activity that employs virtually no-one and has no value. Indeed, they believe all of the countryside should either be re-wilded or used to provide energy and the margins built on to provide homes for the expanding population. They openly regard farming as evil and an out-of-date vestige of capitalism.”

“Bloody hell,” I paused , “I find all this hard to believe.”

“That’s my problem – no one believes me. They wish to effectively dilute and dissolve all privately owned business and assets and democratize it into publicly owned Companies and Public benefit organisations. Taxation is just one tool. Look at the planning rules they propose to change. It will enable land to be compulsory purchased below value and that value effectively gifted to a public company like Persimmon who will be able to immediately benefit from the uplift in value. If this was anything other than an asset grab they would look to use Land Value Tax as a tool. But that would affect too many of their cronies in cities. They act in the name of “public benefit” whilst lining corporate pockets. It will get worse, farmers will have to pay carbon tax, nitrate tax, water tax, tax on fuel. Then they will be instructed to establish environmental works and pay for it themselves even though it may contribute nothing to profits. They are dismantling rural Britain and destroying its economy and not giving a shit about any collateral damage it will cause, even food security.

Now I’m a socialist and am all for public ownership  where it makes sense, say the railways, or to prevent too many telephone poles down my street. But I would never wish to see all the countryside nationalised, especially by this method. What makes this worse for me is that the lying bastards claim to be acting for the common good whereby in reality it is feathering the nests of their friends and associates and even your Tories are in on it.”

“They’re not MY Tories any more, but I get your drift. How would you prove this?”

“Simple, just look at what they do and what people say. They will soon reveal their true selves, especially these idiots that use social media,” she winked having a jibe at me.

So I left Peterborough and caught my train with a lot to think about. This is the stuff of conspiracy theory and rabbit holes.  I trust what I was told. You don’t have to look very far to see this coming to life and I will leave the reader to make their own conclusions, and finally consider the words of the fictional Kent Lasing that possibly describes how many farmers feel:

“When facing society, the man most concerned, the man who does the most and contributes the most has the least to say. It’s taken for granted he has no voice and the reasons he could offer are rejected in advance as prejudiced – since no speech is ever considered, but only the speaker. It is so much easier to pass judgement on a man than an idea.”[iii]

[i] I have been called Andrew by most people since I left school.

[ii] I don’t endorse this opinion, but understand why it is believed. If you look at the work of most Universities you can see opposing papers, argument, reason and evidence on different sides. Even the UCL you can see papers criticizing socialist and capitalist policies.

[iii] The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand