"Howard Neil" wrote in message
...

You say the "cheapest/best product should prevail" as if they are the
same thing. They are not.

OK, 'best value for money'. Whatever.

For instance, in livestock farming UK farmers have to comply with
welfare standards (quite right too) and have to abide by identification
rules (every cow and bull has to have an individual passport so the meat
on your table is traceable back to an individual animal. This ensures a
high quality product but the costs are massive. There are many countries
in the world where animal welfare is virtually non existent (and where
BSE or poultry diseases, for instance, are rampant) and where the
farmers receive very large subsidies from their government. This allows
them to flood our market with sub standard food.

No it doesn't.
We won't allow just any old disease ridden food into the country.

This is not true competition. Farmers in the UK are being hit from two
sides. There is the consumer who will only shop on price, irrespective
of the quality or risks, on one side and a government that seems intent
on destroying farming on the other.

And to return to my original point, why are farmers being protected
against this anyway?
Cheap imports and lower standards in certain countries are a fact of
life. As I have already said, I work in manufacturing industry. Where
is *my* government protection against competition from low wage
third world countries?

Col
--
Bolton, Lancashire.
160m asl.
http://www.reddwarfer.btinternet.co.uk