Though the farmers' demand that the supermarkets pay them properly is obviously welcome, they need to ask themselves why they have for so long remained attached to a party which, contrary to its own history, long ago embraced the "free" market so destructive of agriculture in this and numerous other countries. But, of course, what alternative have they had in recent years?
The farming interest in this country may be small, but it is very well-organised, and it is as conservative as it is social-democratic (whether or not it likes the term), as it is patriotic, as it is Christian, as it is independent-minded, as it is utterly non-metropolitan. It therefore deserves to be a major force in the coming replacement of the existing bankrupt, memberless, identically unpopular political parties. And the rest of us therefore need it to be just such a force.
No comments:
Post a Comment