Everlasting stupidity

A subsidy isn’t just for Christmas

It’s forever.

It was 22 years ago that the cloud of radioactive filth from Chernobyl rained down on North Wales. You, the taxpayer are still paying the bill.

UP to 359 farms are still operating under restrictions imposed in the wake of Chernobyl. That’s 200,000 sheep that are being reared at massive subsidy cost. They cannot enter the food chain. There is no likely prospect of more than a handful of farms being freed from restrictions in the near future.

I know one of the farms well. It is Trawnant in Ysbyty Ifan farmed by Mr Glyn Roberts. I did a Welsh language television programme with Glyn a few years ago. I wanted to call ‘In search of a poor farmer.’ – a vain search of course. S4C called it ‘Flynn versus Glyn.’

The unanswered question is how long will sheep be reared on farms that will be free of radiation for thousands of years. Should another use now be found for the land instead of his expensive pretence that one day everything will be back to normal. The acreage is vast and hilly. Surely ideal sites for hydroelectric schemes.

The nuclear establishment want to forget our 200,000 radioactive sheep. Also embarrassing the World Health Organisation estimate that at least 4,000 died of cancer due to the catastrophe.

My wife fell out with our milkman in 1986. She cancelled fresh milk immediately after the nuclear rain. The milkman and the Government said this being alarmist. Now they admit that cancers resulted from drinking fresh milk then. Government scientists promised the North Wales farmers at the time that the radiation would wash away in six weeks.

The whole sorry history of nuclear power is of danger, waste, deceit, inefficiency, extravagance and cover-up. Nothing has changed in the new rush for nuclear.

Lost Cause
Tomorrow’s Independent will revive their foolish scare campaign on cannabis.  It is a shame that they have conned themselves into believing an evidence free argument.

I have tried to steer back to the splendid brave stand they took a decade ago. In answer to his question whether my opinion on cannabis has changed, I have told him: -

No. The information has remained the same but there has been a hysterical exaggeration of the long recognised harmful effects on mental health. Stronger forms of cannabis result in changed use- in the say that beer drinkers changing to wine drink less in volume. Examine the science not the tabloid headlines. If changing cannabis classification had any effect, it reduced use and presumably harm. Will reversing that policy increase use?
In 2005 with the agreement of all three main parties, magic mushrooms were absurdly placed in the same classification as heroin.  All because politicians were scared witless in fear of being caught in possession of an intelligent drugs policy just before a General Election.

Changing classifications gives politicians gratification and an excuse for not thinking. Drug's classes were irrelevant.  The UK's 10 year drugs strategy spent £billions and achieved almost nothing. Moving policies to harm reduction away from the criminal justice solutions will cut drug use, crime and deaths. Examine Portugal, which has halved drug deaths since 2001.

Night Mayor
For the first time ever I will be voting n London next week.

It’s possible to vote for the London mayor and vote for my local council candidate in Newport. The horror of giving power to Boris, the Etonian effete is too awful to contemplate.

Labour lost touch with our own people in Wales and London in 1999. Poor Frank Dobson had a mere 16% of the vote in Labour London. Ken Livingstone was the deserved victor and he has been a courageous green leader.

The Government refused to commit themselves to the congestion charge unless it proved to be a success. Congestion and pollution has been cut and public transport s more popular an efficient than it’s ever been.

Both Ken and Boris were useless MPs – petulantly prancing around waiting for for a bigger role to come along. Sense is returning. Most Londoners are now moving away from their flirtation with Boris – the joke mayor.

Comments

[John]

Hi Paul

I hope you are doing everything possible to get the ACMD's report out into the public domain. It would be outrageous if this report was not made public.It would be censorship of the kind we would expect from totalitarian regimes were the truth is suppressed because it doesn't agree with the party line.

We need to see that any pretence that Policy is made on sound scientific evidence is another claim unfortunatley this Governement can no longer make if as all reports suggest the PM is going to upgrade against the advice of the Countries leading experts.

If the report does indeed come out recommending no change then I can not be anything but humbled by the integrity and honesty of the ACMD. I imagine they have come under severe Political pressure to follow the Government line. Good on them for sticking with science based evidence rather than the spoutings of the Daily Mail et al, which unfortunately seems to be the source of much of the rubbish spouted by politicians of the 2 main parties (yourself of course excepted) Evan Harris also deserves much praise for his stance too.

[William]

re Night Mayor (aka KL). Surprised that you endorse the 'vote early and vote often' principle (actually not - that is how the Taffia have guarded their power for decades) - why do you have multiple votes whereas business council tax payers have no democratic say in where their money goes?

[paulflynn]

No William. I will not voting for the councillors in London - only for the Mayor. Lliving half my life in London and using London transport that's entirely legitimate.

[paulflynn]

Thank you John. I will press for its publication. Although advice to ministers is not usually published. Someone might usefully leak it.