Suffolk ReeferBoy:
peter cherry:
i will own up it was me that slagged the farmers off,and i will repeat it no way will i support oversubsidized, overpayed farmers.it costs everyone on PAYE £360 per year to keep farmers in a job.If they cant hack it do what ,steelworkers,miners ,fishermen & others did get another job.They are just load of parasites.
What a load of [zb] rollocks ,
as for all farmers driving around in RANGEROVERS etc ,also [zb] rollocks, I use to deliver feed all around this green and pleasent land and the number of farmers I met who where living hand to mouth just about keeping their heads above water far outwayed the stereo typical rich farmer gentlemen , these guys where working king hard for a living , me I couldnt hack their life I would rather sit on my arse all day ,thats why I drive a truck.
And if I do have to pay £360.00 a year so [zb] what, I can afford it and I would rather it went to British Farmers then some scum sucking chav family who milk the system for all its worth.
yeah the same people that gave us BSE ,transported infected sheep during the foot &mouth epidemic so they could get more money.a farmer would stab his own grandmother if vit could make a profit.i will say it again,load of parasites bleeding the country dry.
Why do so many of you attack the farmers?? They are about the only allies that the haulage industry has these days.
Most of you seem to have the impression that all farmers are so rich from government subsides that they don’t need to work. You only have the government & EU to blame for the subsidy system along with WWII. Remember those days when food was scarce, any available land was turned over to food production to help feed the country. After the war the subsidy system helped bring more home produced food to the table.
If you did’nt have farmers then I am sure you would all winge when there was no milk for your cornflakes, and beef for your lunchbreak. Give them a break most are just trying to make the best living they can out of a system that the government created. Most would be out of buisness without the subs. (the subsides are getting a lot smaller as well)
why farmers are protesting, i’ve no idea
Just think how haulage and fuel affects farming —
Inputs such as fertiliser (made from oil), gasoil to run machines, gas to dry corn, electricity to drive ventilation systems, pecticides, washing chemicals all have to be delivered by road.
Outputs such as milk, wheat, barley, vegetables, fruit, live animals - (destined for burgers, roasts, kebabs etc etc) all need to be collected by truck and taken to market.
This all takes fuel and rising costs are not passed up the supply chain, only down it.
The price of fuel affects everybody!! At least they are getting off their arse and trying to do something about it.
peter cherry:
A farmer would stab his own grandmother if it could make a profit…
And that can’t be said about the haulage industry?
paul b:
the farmers just jumped on the band wagon in 2000 and they’ll happily do the same now even though farming is the most subsidissed industry in the uk!
I distinctly seem to remember it being farmers involved from the very start and I know one of the wagons across the entrance at Jarrow was a farmer’s. As the blockades went up, I was hitting it back from Italy so was listening in French, maybe I was wrong.
Yes EU and US farming are subsidised but this is mainly in the form of creating uncompetitive minimum prices. British farmers cannot directly compete with the third world. However the subsidies are having to be withdrawn in compliance with WTO rulings. Admittedly a reform last year implies that farmers may be subsidised to grow nothing but do you not think farmers going bankrupt en-mass may be a teeny problem.
EU hauliers cannot compete with the third world either but you do not see chinese lorries up and down the M1 pulling tesco trailers although I would be suprised if this is not common place in ten years!
Admittedly we have to compete with a growing number of poorer EU states BUT so do farmers.
Also on the question of subsidies, it is calculated that a HGV does not pay for any where near the externalities it produces, is this not a form of subsidy?
Of course UK lorries pay more than elsewhere in the EU which is blatantly un competitive and may be against EU law.
Concerning the steel industry, I do not agree it is booming. I wonder if any of the thousands of ex-steelworkers or present corus workers who permanently look at the prospect of redundancy would agree.
And an interesting point on EU farmers minimum prices (subsidies); many third world markets (ex colonies) have access to the EU rich markets to sell their produce (ie we subsidies them too). There is an argument that immediate subsidy withdrawal would wipe out farming not only across the EU but also in many of the worlds poorest countries. While we would have rusting tractors on wasteland that was once farmland they would die.
Very easy to say withdraw subsidies but perhaps not so easy to do.
Also on the question of subsidies, it is calculated that a HGV does not pay for any where near the externalities it produces, is this not a form of subsidy?
Of course UK lorries pay more than elsewhere in the EU which is blatantly un competitive and may be against EU law.
at last the penny drops!
Concerning the steel industry, I do not agree it is booming. I wonder if any of the thousands of ex-steelworkers or present corus workers who permanently look at the prospect of redundancy would agree.
i work out of corus and i don’t see many glum faces!
Very easy to say withdraw subsidies but perhaps not so easy to do.
[/quote]
don’t remember saying anything about withdrawing subsidies but if it’s ok to keep bailing farmers every time things hav’nt gone perfect then why not give the haulier a chance to at least compete? no trucks = no food
julian:
[
Very easy to say withdraw subsidies but perhaps not so easy to do.
Didn’t they do just that in New Zealand some years ago? But you still see NZ meat and fruit in the shops in the UK don’t you? Not here though. The majority of stuff here is marked ‘Origine France’.
Salut, David
tinydm:
What good will any kind of fuel blockade do for an EMPLOYED truck driver. 
This is about Tories scoring points off labour straight before an election, truck drivers will be used as pawns.
Convince me it will do drivers any good and I’ll support it, but nobody has so far…
As said it will allow your boss to be able to employ you, and pay your wages.
You are probably one who sits in a cafe, saying that fuel economy doesnt matter. why should I save my boss money, he doesnt give me any of it.
There has been no mention of any of the political parties scoring points off labour on the fuel protests.
At least the farmers got off their arses and went to the refinery. What did the truckers do in Fawley, cancel it twice on Tuesday because of police pressure