Bluetongue

Another manifestation of global warming has surprised the NFU by crossing the North Sea to attack British livestock (see here). I am aware of the hypocrisy of being a meat eater on the one hand and giving a damn about livestock on the other, but in that BBC report all we hear about are the "devastation" it does to the farming industry. Of course, industry is the word here, because intensive farming still blights the British landscape. It's this whole conveyor belt approach to farming which has led to the crisis facing farming today. Instead of squeezing every last drop out of the land to try and feed an unsustainable population, perhaps now is the time we took a massive reality check and started scaling back, encouraging people to breed less, consume less and understand you can't keep coming back to the table time and time again.

In the meantime, while the industry wrings its hands about its margins and bottom lines, let me wallow in hypocrisy for a moment and spare a thought for all the animals that will suffer from this disease. It's the least I can do, all things considered.