The European Commission has today (08.05.13) over-ridden the wishes of the UK government and restricted the use of certain insecticides from the neonicotinoid group. This action has been taken in response to declines in bee populations. Many crop experts and farmers are unhappy with the decision and claim that there is insufficient data to confirm that neonicotinoids have anything to do with the decline. One of the severest critics of the decision is UKIP’s MEP and agriculture spokesman Stuart Agnew.
Mr Agnew said: “A suspected witch has been located and she is being dunked. If she survives, she will be burnt as a witch. If she drowns - well that proves she wasn't a witch. By banning products like this, that have already been through stringent safety tests, without peer reviewed scientific evidence, the Commission risks de-motivating the enterprise that brings solutions to crop protection. The Green lobby, which has pushed so hard for this ban, may now be left with some awkward choices:
1. Lower crop yields in a hungry world.
2. Alternative, but more hazardous products
3. GM (insect-deterring) crops.”
He went on to highlight the UK Government’s helplessness in the matter: “If the Government had control of agriculture in this country, rather than the EU, it would have insisted upon objective research by our highly regarded institutions into the worrying decline in bee numbers that could have established whether neonicotinoids played any part in the problem. There has been a lynch-mob mentality driving this process, and we can now expect to see more of it in the future. ”
Mr Agnew also had his own theory: “It was the Green lobby that predicted ever-warmer winters. Could it be that it is the recent very cold winters that are killing the bees?“
