The European Union has backed down on Net Zero targets for agriculture, including drastic cuts in fertiliser and pesticide use and a recommendation that people eat less meat, following widespread protests from farmers. The Telegraph has more.
The European Union has caved in to angry protests from farmers and cut a target to slash agricultural emissions as part of the bloc’s net zero drive.
A demand to reduce nitrogen, methane and other emissions linked to farming by almost a third has been removed from a wider Brussels plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040.
On Tuesday, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, also proposed withdrawing the EU’s plan to halve the use of pesticides, calling it a “symbol of polarisation”.
“Our farmers deserve to be listened to,” she told the European Parliament.
“I know that they are worried about the future of agriculture and their future as farmers. But they also know that agriculture needs to move to a more sustainable model of production so that their farms remain profitable in the years to come.”
A recommendation urging EU citizens to eat less meat was also removed from the plan.
The concessions came amid mounting demonstrations by farmers in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy ahead of this year’s EU elections.
Blockades on supermarket distribution centres have left shelves empty in Brussels, while several people have been injured in traffic accidents caused by farmers’ protests in the Netherlands, as they dumped rubbish and set fires on highways.
Worth reading in full.
The Telegraph‘s James Crisp says farmers are “holding the EU hostage and winning”. The EU climbdown on Net Zero rules “will not stuff the Eurosceptic genie back into the bottle”.
Polls predict anti-EU parties will win June’s European Parliament elections in nine member states – Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia.
Now fully emerged from their defensive crouch after Britain’s painful Brexit negotiations, they are set to come second or third in another nine EU countries.
The EU fears that those results could be boosted by the farmers’ populist revolt.
Tractor protests against climate rules handed a Dutch farmer’s party a landslide victory in regional elections last year after the vote became a referendum on establishment politics.
After the ruling coalition collapsed, voters turned to Geert Wilders, an anti-migrant, Nexit-backing, farmer-supporting firebrand in November’s snap General Election.
Copycat tractor protests have since been held in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Romania, are expected soon in Slovakia and erupted in Spain on Tuesday.
Eurosceptic parties have adopted the farmer’s fight, robbing pro-EU forces of a constituency it has long regarded as its own thanks to the bloc’s huge agricultural subsidies.
A key battleground in the looming campaign is the pushback against the EU’s 2050 Net Zero target, a culture war given impetus by the cost of living crisis.
Also worth reading in full.
“One by one they crumble,” says Ross Clark, “the Net Zero targets that were dreamed up without any regard to their cost and practicality.” The latest to go in the U.K. is the ‘boiler tax’, hot on the heels of the delay on the ban on petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035. “Over the next few years we are going to see many more of these targets having to be relaxed, delayed or abandoned – including, I don’t doubt at some stage, the holy grail of Net Zero itself. It is just that it is going to be a long and painful political journey to get there.”
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It is hard to admit to a lack of courage especially when the lack of courage persists. Far easier to pretend that sefetyism is the creed that makes you feel all warm and snug. Safely watched over by benevolent philosopher kings.
The hiding behind the sofa denying the by now blindingly obvious carries on to this day in the blob like shape of the Hallett covid inquiry.
Once the medical establishment performs a volte face in the U.S., as it shortly will when Jay Bhattacharya takes over its leadership, how will Britain’s NHS ‘experts’ respond?
None of them, nor the inquiry, have a shred of credibility. Jay Bhattacharya made it perfectly clear exactly what a complete nonsense had been perpetrated as far back as 2021.
https://www.hoover.org/research/what-happened-dr-jay-bhattacharya-19-months-covid-1
Professor John Nicholls of the University of Hong Kong had already made that perfectly clear in February 2020.
Very soon now, there will be nowhere left for Britain’s incompetent health charlatans to hide.
You are quite right. But you know what? Nothing will happen.
£200 million will be spent, money laundered.
The inquiry will conclude that the Corona plandemic ‘response’ was not fascistic enough. It will recommend camps and gassing for dissenters based on ‘Science’.
80% of the population will rejoice and clap.
You may very well be correct.
But the political landscape has now shifted, bigly.
In the U.S., the perception of covid as just another common cold coronavirus is about to become mainstream.
The Trump administration will use that as best they can (despite their own less than stellar record in office on that score) to belabour the bejasus out of the Democrats, not least because of the massive waste of funds.
All that noise will make its way over here where it offers a massive opportunity for Reform, relatively untarnished re covid/lockdowns, to give all the three major parties, and Lady Hallett’s inquiry, a massive kicking.
Funded by Mr Musk, that is a PR and political open goal that Mr Farage/Reform are unlikely to miss
Not just the health charlatans. Virtually every single f***ing person in the country, in the rich world, every single f***ing celebrity, institution, media firm, “scientist”, “journalist”, society, association, “charity”, big business, judge, lawyer, politician, political party, senior police officer, etc ad infinitum and nauseam. The “incompetent” charlatans will not need to “hide” because NOBODY APART FROM A FEW NUTTERS LIKE US is interested in raking over the coals on this one. You were either evil or you were a fool. Either way, no-one is interested.
Three cheers for NUTTERS LIKE US.
Again, you may very well be correct……but this is a major political opportunity for A. The Republican Party and B. Reform.
With the funding now available, from a ‘pandemic’/lockdown sceptic in Mr Musk, ‘pandemic’/lockdown scepticism could very easily become a massive political football this year.
It will be a big missed political opportunity for Reform if it does not.
Up to a limited point only IMO.
The picture is fuzzy in the US. It’s certainly true that almost all the opposition to the scamdemic came from the Republican side (voters and politicians). But that opposition was by no means universal and unequivocal. Most states had some kind of covid restrictions, including lots of Republican run states. They were lifted earlier, on average, but they still happened. Trump & “Operation Warp Speed”, ’nuff said. We don’t know what Trump would have done if the states had all just ignored covid – would he have imposed a Federal emergency? Probably not – he’s a “go with the flow” guy. Trump was obviously sceptical about covid but he didn’t denounce the whole thing very clearly and consistently either. The recent campaign at least for the Presidency didn’t seem to focus much on covid other than the wonderful vaccines…
Reform were not really a thing during covid. Farage said Tony Blair should be in charge of the vaccine rollout and Tice called for mandatory vaccination. I don’t recall their recent election campaign calling for medical freedom. I would love Reform to push this big-time, but they won’t, and doing so would probably cost them more votes than it gained them. Nobody wants to be reminded of what happened, except us nutters.
Tice said surely the jab is mandatory for care workers, that is bad enough but not an all out fascist. The way he treated Mr Bridgen pissed a lot of sceptics off.
Yes. I am not sure what his position was on NHS workers – I can’t see how you could be FOR vaxxing care home workers but not force people working in hospitals to get vaxxed. The main reason they didn’t make it mandatory for NHS workers was that so many of them refused to comply and the govt backed down. Yes, treatment of Bridgen was poor.
It is a cult of ignorance. You can see this clearly because many who should’ve known better fell for it. They know on some level that they are holding their hands over their ears in fear and yet they are too timid to approach this reality. A pretty squalid aspect of the human condition perhaps. To be fair to MIchael Gove he admiited that he was a bed-wetter. He never said if he got over this problem. You will never get someone to admit they are a bed-wetter because it discredits everything else about them.
He also mentioned the Lab but was briskly moved on in the enquiry.
And consider that many have got in line to have the latest jab and that is in the case of a friend of mine despite having been diagnosed as having mild pericarditus.
Anyone supporting the lockdowns, anti-social distancing and all the other authoritarian Covid nonsense should look long and hard at the photo at the head of this article. And hang their head in shame.
Crimes of Lockdown
We Need Justice
“Petty tyranny” and of course, those of us who went into shops were the villains. I didn’t get much trouble, but that might ne because I look like a bit of a thug, not getting younger but still a handful! Had someone not serving me Tea that I mentioned before and also in a Garage the shop assistant complaining to the manager that ended up with them arguing with each other. I was disappointed since I was spoiling for a fight (verbal) but willing to go further.
You can’t let yourself get angry at the ignorant masses. It has always been thus. They are victims one way or another. No one would choose to be a coward over a warrior. It is just the burden that you have to carry. But is is hard when mass compliance threatens the survival of all of us.
Let’s face it, 95% of the population are, and were, sheep, unquestioning and basically stupid. The covid reality was staring them in the face, but they couldn’t, wouldn’t see it for what it was – one huge con by people paid to know better, but basically sheep too.
Well to be brutally honest it was obvious after the diamond princess episode that covid was not a big deal, and and that was what, feb/March 2020?
Anybody who continued after that to believe this was what the govt said it was… well I’ve got a bridge sell you.
I mean, ffs, get a f’kin’ grip. Have people no curiosity about what is really happening?
I’m no genius, and I am sure I misunderstand or don’t know lots of important stuff, but I do at least give it a go.
Covid was eye opening in that respect – just how pathetic a lot of people are.
Same here
Long time = once everyone involved is dead or senile.
Almost every single f***ing person I know supported lockdowns and got jabbed. Several of them stopped talking to me, compared me to Hitler, called me a conspiracy theorist, many treated me like a mad uncle and refused to engage. Not a single one has apologised or recognised I was right. They can all go and do one.
“Errors” – pah! These bastards were busy partying and taking the piss out of us.
I have always held a weird fascination about how the Germans descended to the levels they did ninety-odd years ago. I’d sometimes idly speculated that they weren’t particularly unique and that any population could have succumbed.
Lockdown and the rest of that nonsense provided me with confirmation. Not quite as extreme perhaps, but it was visible.
Sorry to have invoked Godwin’s Law but I can’t avoid making the connection.
“If you ever wondered how and why millions of ordinary decent citizens just stood and watched as Germany descended into Fascism – you know now”.-
Probably my favourite poster/slogan/sticker regarding Clown World – which we are still very much in.
If we don’t stop them – they’ll do it to us again
I too have wondered about the Germans and come to the conclusion that as they had one of the best “education” systems in Europe the deciding point is that “education” takes place in schools and schools are the places where the damage is done. In the film the “Blue Angel” the school master berates the pupils to be patriotic and join up, ditto the school master in “All Quiet on the Western Front”. Fast forward to the article above and the school teacher friend cannot be bothered to do any research, does not know how to and just wants to be told what to do and then turn around and “tell” their pupils what to do.
One should be very wary of schools and teachers. My East West political lecturer back in the 1980s said to be very careful of letting the state educate our children. I now understand exactly what he meant.
GP letters are still being sent offering a Covid & Flu jab at the same time ! The Blob is still engaged, ready & waiting for the next excuse to go to warp speed .
This ad pisses me off.
What is so sad about all this is that the husbands, parents, relatives of the elderly had no choice. Together with the fact that those in authority banned them from visiting, sending their children to school etc. The ‘people’ didn’t let their relatives die alone…the hospitals refused them entry. Individuals rebelled…but, like Joanna was banned from a shop for ignoring the one way system, people had no option. No one is going to accept they were fools, particularly not those in authority.
So what did James Kirkup and The Times do about it at the time?
Oh yes, that’s right. They propagandised for the Government as it set about destroying the lives of millions ….. as did the rest of the MSM.
The Government and the entire Establishment attempted to generate a WW2 “war spirit” against a virus.
Most of the people … the unthinking, go-with-the-herd, sheeple …. didn’t work out that the “war” was against them and their families.
I have no time for those who complain now ….. including most of those who lined up to participate in a mass, gene therapy, medical experiment and died or were severely injured as a result.
Engaging your brain, in order to protect yourself from harm, is a form of natural selection.
I DO feel sorry for the children whose whole lives have been harmed by the evil barstewards in the Establishment and the cowardly adults who participated in the destruction.
They had people deluded, like a Supermarket lorry I was following and some lady waving at them like a liberating army.
Above all, when will those who broke the Nuremberg Code be held to account?
This was an experimental medication is ever there was. Emergency authorisation, and the date of completion for first phase clinical testing 2023.
Yet many were coerced, on threat of losing their livelihoods, to take the experimental gene therapy shots.
We hanged people for this very egregious crime after the war.
We did ! The over lords of Convid are just as bad as Mr Hilters mob !!
I’d be more than happy to flip the trapdoors open…
Three cheers for Lord Toby Young! Patron saint of nutters like us. I bit my tongue so many times that I’m surprised I still have one. Frankly it was often easier to keep quiet… I got to hate the glazed eyes look of friends when I kept pointing out inconvenient facts or just laughing. Many thought they would die if they didn’t follow the rules..
And the sad thing they’d do it all over again.
I was barred from two vets surgeries for questioning their petty rules (people that should have known better). In one case they wouldn’t let me inside to have my dog “put down” because I refused a PCR test. We went home he died three days later.
I also had an interesting discussion in the pros shop at my local golf course. He questioned my lack of a mask saying I had to wear one. When I told him I didn’t he backtracked and told me I needed to wear something to indicate that I was “exempt” which of course I also had to correct him on.
Basically petty tyranny in both cases.
It’s not the petty tin pot tyrants that need to be brought to justice but the professional public health officials and politicians abusing emergency powers who should. Most did know the risk was extremely low similar to a seasonal flu and actively censured and silenced the many experts who disagreed. They extended this travesty for 2 years after the risks were well known causing unimaginable damages to society and people’s lives. These are the one’s that need to be brought to justice. The scam continues to this day.
I sent a lengthy email (2ft’s worth) to my Tory MP on 24th March 2020 laying out why the Lockdown was wrong and what the consequences would be. My wife would confirm that everything I set out happened eg. the elderly would die sooner and especially if the hospitals discharged un-tested elderly patients back to care homes. I am not a Doctor just an ex dairy farmer,and it was obvious from the outset that this was a flu virus which particularly affected older people.
The average age of death by Covid was 82.4 years so why were younger persons especially children harmed so badly by closing schools and imposing ridiculous Lockdown procedures.
I also said that no politician would admit they had panicked and got it wrong so they had to continue the nonsense worldwide.
The three main scientists behind the Barrington Declaration had it right from the start about building immunity among the public but they were ridiculed by non medical political fools like Tory MP Neil O’Brien who should have been imprisoned for hate speech.
I refused to wear a mask as did my wife, who is deaf, and when challenged, refused to back down and tried to explain that the whole affair was driven by fear by the Government and that the precautions were overplayed.
The ‘nudge unit’ did a good job of frightening the public into compliance and it was clear to me that the unit would be retained and rolled out for all sorts of other issues. I continuously entreat people I meet to be quietly cynical and question everything and use their basic common sense about public directives..
The day the lockdown was announced I decided to re locate to the countryside where I grew up. I didn’t want to be locked down in London. I was fortunate to be able to do that unlike so many others. I too could foresee all the problems you identified. I wrote to my MP. I wrote to BJ. And now looking back at all the emails and letters I wrote trying to convince people that fear was their greatest enemy it all seems even more tragic now that lessons are being learned, but at the same time being forgotten, because no one has the courage to acknowledge their part in this human tragedy. The biggest failure of the human condition is the inability to recognise ones own failures, particularly if one is a politician or some authority figure in public health or pharma corporation. The one thing the elites seem to forget when creating their AI generated, transhumanist dystopia is the Common Sense factor – it can’t be digitised or replicated by a computer brain.
“Tory MP Neil O’Brien who should have been imprisoned for hate speech.”
What did he say. I’m not in favour of closing down free speech, even what some call hate speech. Much better is daylight where speech is out in the open.
Nor am I and I am one of the early members of the Free Speech Union but this MP set up a website to castigate anyone who he saw as a ‘denier’ and he rubbished Professor Sunetra Gupta – a world leading epidemiologist in the most appalling way when she was one of the original three who set up the Barrington Declaration and had been invited to talk to Boris. Unfortunately Boris listened to the uninformed.
I was really disappointed with the Church of Scotland’s response. For all the “be bold and brave”, and Jesus helping lepers the first sign of a potential illness and they happily closed the churches. Their charity for children and vulnerable people said nothing at the time, and now campaigns for money to help repair the damage done during lockdown.
Good point. I forgot to mention religious leaders in my list of the guilty.
Hell will freeze over before people will confront their inhumane behaviour, it takes courage, humility, and bravery to admit fault and to confront the horror an individual allowed itself to become.
The majority are afraid to do this instead they will sweeper the carpet, and comfort themselves with tropes such as everyone else was doing it. and I was obeying the rules.
These same people would have burned the “witches”, the ,”heretics”, and they will do similar again if told to do so.