Personne ne bouge ou vos éleveurs de bovins l'obtiendront!

Emailed in by MBL from The Daily Mail:

Mr Lamy, a Frenchman who headed the World Trade Organisation between 2005 and 2013, said that the rest of the EU would drive a 'hard bargain' in the event of Brexit...

"My own country will probably be among the hardest to negotiate with. Imagine how eager French farmers will be not to have your beef or lamb on our supermarket shelves. And no one will show any love for the City of London.

"If it fails to get a deal, there is a real risk that the UK would have to fall back on WTO rules. Some in the Leave campaign have said this would not be a bad option. As the former head of the WTO, let me be clear: this would be a terrible replacement for access to the EU single market.

"Though tariffs have fallen, they are still high enough to hurt businesses and therefore jobs: 10 per cent for cars, 12 per cent on clothes, 70 per cent on some beef products.

So, a bit like during the period 1996 - 2006, then? Distressing for British beef farmers (who do a very good job) but hardly a disaster for the economy. We'll just have to eat more of the stuff ourselves and we'll be able to go to McDonalds with the warm glow of having fulfilled our patriotic duty.

"Beware of the bison!"

Hairy American cattle are getting in on the act, from The Daily Mail:

Yellowstone National Park warns tourists after two are gored in a week

* Pamphlet warns animals may be wild, unpredictable and dangerous
* On Tuesday a 62-year-old man was thrown in the air several times
* Officials say increased tourism has put more people closer to the animals
* A male bison can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and sprint three times faster than a man

"A bull walks into a pub..."

Spotted by View From The Solent (who still doesn't have a blog) at Sky News:

Drinkers relaxing in a pub in the Irish Republic were shocked when a bull decided to join them.

"The bull managed to escape from the farmers' cattle market," the landlord of the Porter House pub Cyril Rafferty told Sky News Online ""It came down the back alleyway into the delivery area and managed to get into the pub. It was a shock to all of us!"

It is not reported whether the bull then popped in to the china shop next door.

Cow attack round up...

There I was relaxing, digesting a doner kebab, downing a cold bottle of Budvar and soaking up the BBC local news. Next thing you know a cow attack story comes on prime time TV! Well MW asked me to "fill in the gaps" while he enjoys a much deserved break, so I switched on the laptop and got busy on google.

Not a thing! All you get back for "cow attack BBC south" and similar searches are zillions of links back to this blog! The helpful chap on the BBC did point me in the direction if the National Farmers Union and the National Ramblers Association for useful 'elf n safety guidance on avoiding such unpleasantness.

Turns out the grasping b***ards at the NFU won't let you into the nitty gritty of their website until you join (and pay them). The NRA are slightly more helpful and, as well as providing legal guidance on when you can sue landowners in respect of cow attacks, seem to confirm Mr Wadsworths suspicions:

"It is difficult to prove that attacks by cattle are increasing, but anecdotal evidence suggests that this is the case."

Anecdotal evidence? Being anti-NIMBY types maybe they all subscribe to Mark Wadsworth?

"It appears that cattle from continental breeds are more temperamental than traditional British breeds, although this is again based on anecdotal evidence."

More anecdotal evidence? Google "German cow attack" and again, MW is top hit!

I still can't find the cow attack story I just saw in the news over at the BBC website. However, I did find this one from 28th July. "Cows that have grazed next to the Thames under a 200-year tradition are to be enclosed in a paddock at weekends and holidays because of safety fears. The National Trust, which controls Petersham Meadows in south-west London, decided on the move after a dog attacked cows in 2 May ...

...Mrs Jones, Lib Dem ward councillor for Ham, Peterham and Richmond Riverside, told the BBC the cows "deserve to graze at all times". She said: "The cows have been there for hundreds of years and they do not attack people.

Two hundred year old cows? Conviction politics from a Lib Dem? Still it's worth remembering, you are more likely to be killed by a cow than shark!

Badger cull

If farmers really reckon that culling badgers will help reduce TB in cattle, then so be it. The argument has been rumbling for years and I suppose the only way forward is to give it a try and see what happens.

But don't forget to do this one as well.