Since much of the Animal/plant health inspection service transfered to “Homeland Security” (I hate that name!) after 9/11, they have been seriously over-stretched.

Good for small farmers; not good for protection of food supply from imported pests & diseases.

My parents lived through the hardship of the war, when it suited governments to encourage every body to look after themselves. Now if we don’t do as we are told, there are punitive punishments. And we wonder why we live in a country were the general population could not find its own bum with both hands, let alone take care of themselves and their families.

Sorry, rant over.

Incidentally, Prince Charles spoke about this issue on Gardener’s Question Time last spring:

I’ve been ridiculed, says Charles - BBC

Talking of pointless rules, it’s still illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas day (thanks, Cromwell!):

You can still kill a Scotsman in York, but don’t eat a mince pie at Christmas - The Guardian

The best way to counter these sorts of pointless rules is simply to ignore them since they rely on our active co-operation - which is a major theme of Seymour’s. He doesn’t, as I recall, explain the title of his book but having read it I’m certain your guess is right. The book is sadly now out of print - I bought my copy recently via Abe Books.

alf

I haven’t read “Bring Me My Bow” - I’m an ex-pat Aussie so I hadn’t read many of the British farming/smallholding/self sufficiency books until recently and I’m still playing catch up.

It’s an interesting choice of title, though. Was Seymour referring to Blake’s New Jerusalem by any chance?

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my charriot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.

Defra vision of a farm-less Britain? - Telegraph.

Incidentally, have you read ‘Bring me my bow’ by John Seymour? He was ranting against just this sort of pointless bureaucracy thirty years ago.

alf

Sarah, I know all about different local government interpretations of regulations in Scotland. Each council has its own version of the animal movement licence for pigs and wants that one used. They also want herd books completed in their preferred format. The problem comes when animals cross local government boundaries. I’ve had to rewrite forms a couple of times to satisfy different people - even though the information on the form is exactly the same. I try to list the blogs and websites of regular visitors in my blogroll, plus ones I find interesting. However, with about 1,000 unique visitors to this blog now, it’s difficult to stay on top of the blogroll and make reciprocal visits/comments. I try, though.

WGA, it’s not just speculation on your part. The Berkshire Pig Breeders Club states in its last newsletter that the Government sees smallholders as “the” threat to British biosecurity. Given that all the major disease outbreaks have been down to illegal activity, cock-ups by Government bodies, and stuff-ups by big business, it’s more than a little odd that smallholders are the “the enemy”. I’ve also heard bureaucrats here and in England expressing the desire to get rid of the small, “inefficient” producers in favour of a few big monolithic producers.

IMO that is the idea, the powers that be don’t want people to produce small scale and be self sufficient - they want us to be beholden to large producers and the best way to put people off is by making it as difficult as possible to have a few back yard chickens or pigs.

Big business cocks it up because they are so big and impersonal and things get overlooked, but as always its the little man that pays the price.

By the way, I noticed you added me to your side bar. That’s very kind, thank you.