Thursday's Letters: Dairy farmers need a fair balance of power

ANYONE not yet concerned about the power of buyers in the milk supply chain ought to be as they are slowly sapping the life out of British dairy farming.

Where there were 10 dairy farms in our small village a decade ago, only two remain. Both have had to expand, and to invest in new technology to keep pace with the demands of modern dairy farming.

The loss of British dairy farms would be a massive blow to consumers, our beautiful countryside and the rural economy. With increasing reliance on imported dairy products leading to the recent record rise in the dairy trade deficit, it would also have a significant effect on the UK economy.

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With British industry in decline, the dairy industry has survived, so far, because farming is a way of life. Despite extremely long unsocial hours and often difficult working conditions, most dairy farmers are in it for the love of it rather than to make huge profits. This is taken advantage of by those in the milk chain who are far too greedy.

Farmgate prices should have increased when commodity prices increased recently. Instead, someone higher up the chain holds on to increases and reduces our returns when commodity prices are reduced.

The gross abuse of the imbalance of power in the milk supply chain allows those with control to keep money for themselves or their shareholders as they continue making disproportionate profits even in difficult economic times.

The longer this injustice continues, the more damage is done as money is diverted elsewhere, never to be returned to its rightful owners to enable them to repay ever accumulating debts.

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Profit-driven businesses are not concerned about the future of the British dairy industry, or in the long-term interest of consumers or consumer choice. When it has gone they will simply find something else to make money from. This is why large successful retailers have fingers in so many pies.

Why, therefore, must milk be continually used as a loss leader to fuel retail price wars at the expense of others lower down the chain?

All we ask is for a fair balance of power in the supply chain and that the missing money is passed on now, without delay and with arrears, otherwise this latest abuse of power will be yet another slap in the face for dairy farmers.

From: Kathleen Calvert, Paythorne, Clitheroe, Lancashire.

Dangers of inattention at the wheel

From: PH Green, Radlyn Park, West End Avenue, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

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THE other night, I watched a programme on ITV relating to motorists not realising what danger they are in on the road by using mobile phones, putting on make-up while driving, reading papers at the wheel and many other stupid actions like driving with a dog sitting on one's knee.

I am 80 years of age and have been, in the past, a chief tester of prototype cars, racing and rally cars and covering many, many miles under all sorts of weather conditions.

To my mind, the problem is very complex because it also includes specialist equipment that the manufacturer has fitted in order to entice people to purchase their cars. Also the ease, or should I say the apparent ease, with which a modern car is controlled.

What motorists do not appreciate in a modern car is the speed of collision due to the split second of taking one's eyes off the road in front. Even hanging danglers off the central rear view mirror takes your mind off the road. Nothing must divert your attention from the road ahead .

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I am now 80 because I have applied this attention to driving while doing 50,000 miles per year. What people do not realise is that it only needs to happen once for it to be curtains. Even listening to the car radio can distract you for that deadly split second.

My heroes at the helm

From: Frank McManus, Longfield Road, Todmorden.

IN his list of great post-war British Prime Ministers (Yorkshire Post, August 11), Bernard Ingham rightly honours Clem Attlee, my favourite, as do many and very possibly most Britons. In his maiden speech in the 1922 Parliament, Attlee said: "While the purchasing power... is concentrated in the hands of the few, there will be production of luxuries and not of necessities."

The postwar history of Labour is one of perpetual harassment by the power of big money, especially international; and Prime Ministers have to be judged in this context, and also in the light of general humanity and Christian values.

Regretfully, therefore, I must rate Blair and Thatcher as 11th equal: the latter for callousness, the former for Iraq (how sad after his peacemaking role in Ireland) and for alienating core-communities and Britain's "dispossessed 15 per cent". Harold Wilson is number

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two: he kept us out of Vietnam and gave us the Open University, whereas Major's legacy is the Lotto.

Among the Tories, Eden failed, Churchill was gentle, Macmillan imposed Beeching who wrought traffic-chaos by overpruning the railways. Douglas-Home's task was impossible, and Heath sold us down the EEC river, now the EU. This leaves the Labour duo of Callaghan and Brown, who served reasonably in vastly different circumstances so my list is: 1. Attlee. 2. Wilson. 3. Churchill. 4. Brown/ Callaghan. 6. Douglas-Home. 7. Macmillan. 8. Major. 9. Heath. 10. Eden. 11. Blair/Thatcher.

How God went missing

From: Canon Michael Storey, Healey Wood Road, Brighouse.

AS a "grumpy old man" of 73, I write to deplore the love of Mammon, which has brought many of the problems (financial and otherwise) to the world at large.

My working life spans some 57 years, occupations have been postman and van driver (holiday jobs), milkman in family business, 13 years for Midland Bank, four years teaching, 35 years as an Anglican priest. I have managed to live quite well without any bonuses.

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This is not meant as a boast – just a statement of fact. Why do people need bonuses these days? In the past, one did one's job to the best of one's ability for the agreed pay. Where has it gone wrong? My answer is simple: God is now left out of people's decision making. Mammon (love of money) is winning. How sad. How sad the result to the world at large, too.

Clubs should pay penalty

From: Margaret Foster, Garforth, Leeds.

I AGREE wholeheartedly with Tom Richmond's suggestions on preventing football clubs running up sometimes unpayable debts to the taxman (Yorkshire Post, August 14).

It has always been a mystery to me why their behaviour and attitude is not a national scandal; it should be.

Why should they be allowed to get away with it? When I ran a small business, I certainly wouldn't have been able to or, indeed, wanted to.

Conflict of views over who was to blame for recession

From: Ron Goldthorpe, Highstone Lane, Ward Green, Barnsley.

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I WAS amazed to read Don Burslam's letter (Yorkshire Post, August 13). The world recession was caused by greedy bankers and not Gordon Brown, as the Tories would like you to believe.

It is clear by the way they dealt with the Forgemasters loan that the coalition just doesn't know what it is doing.

The people of Bradford will recall the mess Eric Pickles made of their city and booted him out – now this man is running all local councils. The sooner we vote out this Government, the sooner we will be on the road to getting our country and our social and public services back on the road to recovery.

Yes, the country is in a mess but the banks are now recovering and eventually the Government will be able to sell back the shares and hopefully make a profit for the taxpayers without having these savage cuts imposed.

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From: Jonathan Goldsbrough, Glencoe Terrace, Glasshouses, Harrogate.

IN response to Martin Smith (Yorkshire Post, August 13) – his claims that our economic woes are due to capitalism and free markets are laughable. The banking crisis did not occur because the sector is "unregulated".

This is blatantly untrue – the banking sectors both here and the US are more subject to government interference than any other.

Would Mr Smith like the FSA/Bank of England to be given even more power? As neither of these institutions had the slightest clue that

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there was to be a world banking crisis, how on earth does he think they could have prevented it?

A better approach would be to seek out and listen to those who did actually predict the events of the last few years. I implore anyone with the slightest interest in truth rather than dogma to spend a few minutes researching the American economist Peter Schiff. He accurately forecasted the entirety of what happened and is someone who has a real understanding of economics – the role of fiat currency, central banking, excessive regulation and artificial government stimulus in distorting the markets.

These are all notable omissions from Mr Smith's "analysis", but are all ones that intelligent citizens should seek to understand.

Sack the council lead swingers

From: Michael Stephen Mycroft, Wilton, Pickering, North Yorkshire.

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COUNCILS in North Yorkshire, can surely be accused of double standards .

You reported (Yorkshire Post, August 17) that council staff take twice as much time off as private sector workers.

At the same time, a circular has been sent out from North Yorkshire County Council's integrated passenger transport department which says: "It is our intention to reduce the amount we spend on bus services by 600,000 from April 2011."

By the actions of this, a lot of bus services are going to be reduced, and even cancelled.

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Surely a more fair way to deal with this matter would be to sack the lead swingers who are costing the taxpayers money, and use the funds to subsidise the buses.

Short-changed

From: Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon.

WHATEVER one's views on the proposed Leeds trolley bus system, there can surely be no doubt that this would be inferior to the previously proposed – and, sadly, aborted – tram network. How galling, therefore, to read that Manchester has just authorised a further investment of more than 500m for three more Metrolink routes.

Just why is it that our region is continually short-changed as far as transport expenditure is concerned?

Milk facts

From: Peter Phillips, Clifford Street, Hornsea.

I AM a little surprised that a man of Coun James Alexander's background (Yorkshire Post, August 13) forgot to mention that his Labour government started the process in 1968 by withdrawing free school milk to the over-11s. Politicians who cherry-pick the facts to suit their own agenda are both insulting and patronising to the very people who support and trust them to make the right decisions.

Cash splash

From: K Walker, Scarborough.

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I read with sympathy Roger Haw's letter regarding Barnsley Council (Yorkshire Post, August 12). I was born in Scarborough and my council also seems to have no idea regarding spending money; they splash it around like water.

I cannot understand why, in such prudent times, Scarborough council use the emergency fund account (as reported) of every penny to use on floorboards and goodness knows what else at the Spa complex.