It is reported in the media that Britain’s waterways could be about to witness a major revival �“ one, interestingly enough, in line with British nationalist proposals first “floated” at least two decades ago. The combination of lengthening traffic jams, rising fuel prices and pollution reduction pressures are awakening interest in the possibility of transporting bulk goods by barge along Britain’s extensive network of canals and other waterways. Apparently shipping and barge companies have received more inquiries about the possibility of transporting freight by water in the past 18 months than they have had in 20 years. Indeed, some companies that have traditionally used roads are now appointing managers to mastermind their expansion on to water.

To show just how seriously some companies are treating the proposal, Eddie Stobart, possibly the country’s biggest road-haulage firm, has invested in a port on the Manchester Ship Canal and plans, it is claimed, to expand its waterways routes. According to a company spokesperson: “It might seem odd that one of the goals of Britain’s biggest branded truck company is to get trucks off the road, but that is exactly what we are trying to do. It seems ironic that we are now looking to revive more traditional modes of transport, but new pressures such as congestion, rising fuel prices and the environment mean the old methods are becoming viable again.”

In addition, it is further claimed that several major companies, including a number of the supermarket cartels, have already switched thousands of tons of freight on to ships and barges. And, as unlikely as it may seem, the international courier firm DHL is said to be looking to move urgent mail from central London to Heathrow by speedboat to avoid road congestion in the capital.

As regular visitors to this site will know, Land & People are rightfully critical of the supermarket cartels �“ particularly in respect of their relationship with our farming community and the adverse impact they have on our High Streets �“ however the decision by Tesco to transport its New World wine by sea and water, to its bottling plant at Irlam on the Manchester Ship Canal, deserves credit. The scheme, which involves three journeys a week to transport an estimated 600,000 litres of wine along a 40-mile stretch of the canal from Liverpool to Manchester, takes 50 lorries off the roads each week. So successful has this initiative been that we now learn that they plan to expand the scheme, saving an estimated 3,500 lorry movements by the end of the year.

Yet despite the benefits of utilising Britain’s waterways in this way, industry experts complain further development is being frustrated by a lack of planning and imagination by the Government, local authorities and British Waterways! One would have imagined that the Labour EU regime at Westminster would be absolutely delighted at the possibility of getting so many polluting lorry-loads off our roads.

As an example of Government indifference we learn that a proposal to build a commercial wharf at Staines, just a few miles from Heathrow, to enable cargo to be transferred down the Thames from Tilbury docks or the proposed Thames Gateway port, thus saving tens of thousands of lorry journeys around the M25, has not been pursued by Labour’s Environment Agency. The plan would have enabled bulk cargoes to have been transfered from barges at Staines and then shipped as rail freight to Wales or the Westcountry �“ taking a huge burden off our roads.

The problem for British Waterways appears to be that it sees itself as a “heritage and leisure organisation” �“ not a water-borne freight handling concern. Land & People suggests that they need to revaluate their role �“ perhaps modelling themselves on their “continental cousins” in countries such as Holland and Belgium, where the conveyance of bulk freight is at least as important as the leisure industry.

A central plank of British National Party transport policy involves the redevelopment of our national rail and waterways networks for the express purpose of taking as much freight off our roads as possible �“ not only is this good from an environmental standpoint, but �“ more often than not �“ it makes good commercial sense as well!

Land & People activist, Barry Bennett, provides us with the results of a midnight’s “amphibian safari” conducted in the depths of a Dorset garden.

Barry writes: Amongst the plants found in a leafy suburban garden in Bournemouth, a watchful pair of eyes is seen glaring hungrily at slugs and snails. The light of the torch reveals golden eyes patiently watching its prey.

This should be “the night of the amphibians”, but in this location, it’s “the night of the toads”!

As recently reported by Land & People, frogs have been suffering the effects of the upsetting of their delicate ecological balance of nature, due to pollution and the introduction of deadly diseases carried by imported species.

Fortunately, in this area, the toad has found refuge in many locations. But for how long?

The toad pictured (left), has recently started out in life. It’s a baby, not much larger than the pound coin shown.

Whether it will reach adulthood and help us rid our gardens of the unwanted slugs, snails and other pests that destroy our prized plants, is up to you!

Its habitat is under attack. It needs ponds to breed, gardens to live in and clean water. It also needs the assistance of humans who understand that there is more to life in Britain than TV and cash. Oh, and ditch the slug pellets please! If the toads aren’t happy, ultimately nor will you be. It follows that what poisons them will ultimately poison us.

The toad (left) is blissfully unaware that its existence, along with its cousins - the frogs and newts - is under attack.

Attack from the developer who knocks down family homes, fills in ponds and builds on the green belt.

Attack from the government and Establishment political parties- - who see amphibian habitats as fair game for blocks of flats and the housing estates needed to house a booming immigration-fuelled overpopulation.

Attack from GM pollutants, herbicides, pesticides and a thousand and one chemicals. The latter being responsible for the death of 90 million bees in France it is claimed.

Attack from people who live in boxes, watch boxes, and end up in boxes �“ people who never take the time to find out what wildlife exists beyond their front doors.

Well amphibians do exist, and they are probably resident in a garden near you - if you are lucky to live in an environment free from the scourge of overbuilding and pollution.

Next time you are stressed out, because of increasing bills; or you are not sure which Euro zone you live in, or for any reason whatsoever; then just think how lucky you are that nature and its wonders are all around you and for free!

Maybe then you’ll start to fight for yours and our wildlife’s rights to exist in Britain �“ OUR green and pleasant land.

Take a look, make sure it’s quick or you might miss a glimpse of these amazing creatures living in your very own back yard.

Our amphibians need you!

Land & People has pointed out, on a number of occasions over the last few years, how some in farming - the “big boys” as we call them - have been doing rather nicely out of the sequence of crises to hit the industry. This has manifested itself in larger estates �“ be they privately or corporately owned �“ buying out the struggling “little man” and selling off surplus farm houses and converted farm buildings, to urban outsiders as second homes.

A recent report from the Commission for Rural Communities supports this view as it shows that almost half of people buying farmland in the South West in recent years have not been farmers and that a significant area of land is now being bought by non-farming interests for housing and development as well as “agri-business”. The report goes on to claim that nationally, 38% of farmland purchasers were non-farmers, a figure that rises to 44% in the Westcountry.

The report also suggests that factors, which may have some longer-term impacts for land management - include low and fluctuating incomes for farmers and the average age of farmers, especially for small farms, is getting older.

None of this is news!

The State of the Countryside report also claims: “The trend is for a smaller number of larger farms, and for former agricultural buildings to be separated from farmland for residential use.

The primary function of farmers remains as food producers, although there is increasing interest in a wide range of crops for industrial uses and bio-fuels. At the margins, food production is declining as agricultural activities, such as hill sheep farming, become uneconomic due to changing policy and decreasing farm subsidies.”

However perhaps the most worrying message from this report is the assertion that Britain’s capacity for self-sufficiency in food continues to decline, down ten per cent for indigenous food and now just 60% for all food.

Such is the sorry state that British farming finds itself in after eleven years of Labour incompetence and Tory opposition intransigence! Once again we ask �“ is the eradication of the “small man” from British farming accident or design?

Unlike the Labour and Tory parties the British National Party is dedicated to the expansion of the farming industry �“ not through driving farming families from the land as is the Labour and Tory way �“ but through encouraging the breaking up of the large corporate agricultural estates to free up land leading to the establishment of traditional family-run farms. The BNP will actively promote a “return to the land” programme. A programme that will reflect the strategic importance of the farming industry to the country and one which will assure the “small man” of a secure future in farming for himself and his family.

When well-meaning people introduced the American grey squirrel into Britain in the 19th century they could hardly have foreseen the disasterous impact it would have on our native red. Today, of course, the native red has been driven to the very fringes of Britain, although - with a little help from man - it is making something of a comeback in some areas.

Now experts claim that Britain’s native toad species are at risk from an imported infection that has already eradicated some of the world’s amphibian colonies.

Fortunately, the fungal disease is currently confined to Kent, where it is believed to have been introduced from frogs imported into this country.

However, the fear is that it could spread further and, in theory at least, completely wipe out the British toad population. This is the conclusion of British scientists, according to research published in the journal of the Royal Society last year.

Consequently environmentalists are urging tighter controls on the aquarium trade involving the importation of amphibians, to protect our native toads from this infection.

According to the experts, the chytrid fungus, or Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (BD), infects the skins of amphibians such as frogs, toads, salamanders and newts. Such is its potency that a full one-third of all the losses in amphibian species recorded around the world are thought to be due to the disease. Research also indicates that although the frogs that brought the fungus to Kent have long since disappeared, it is likely that they have left a reservoir of infection in the environment. Now scientists claim that the deadly disease is being repeatedly brought into Britain through the world trade in amphibians.

A scientist at London’s Imperial College warned: “We strongly suspect BD is being introduced into the UK on a daily basis through the amphibian trade. Our borders are wide open to the introduction of this infectious disease.”

Meanwhile experts at the Institute of Zoology in London have developed mathematical models to evaluate various scenarios relating to infection in Britain’s common toad breeding populations. They found that the critical parameter was the length of time the fungus could survive in the environment away from its natural host. Their models suggest that there would be little impact on British toads if the fungus was only able to live outside its host for seven weeks. However, they also concluded that if it was able to survive in water for a year, the impact would be considerable - resulting in severe declines in the numbers of toads, and in some cases extinction in 10 years within infected areas.

Their research, which was first published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society towards the end of last year, makes clear the need to test all amphibians for the disease before they are brought into Britain. Indeed, the wildlife charity Froglife said it was important to make people aware of the danger to native amphibians. A spokesman for the charity is reported as saying: “It is thought that it could have been brought to the UK by exotic pet species, such as the African clawed toad, that have escaped or been deliberately released. It is vital strict controls on the health of imported animals are in place to help limit the spread of this devastating disease.”

Land & People consider the suggestion an eminently sensible one and recommend its adoption as a matter of some urgency.

Our very existence, as a free people within an independent sovereign nation, is under dire threat �“ as is our environment �“ a treasure house of precious fauna and flora.

For the first time in our history we face grave danger emanating from both within and without this realm. In Britain today there is only one organisation resisting the menace of the EU Fourth Reich at our front and the growing Fifth Column at our back.

On the Home Front we are faced by a tidal wave of fresh immigration �“ another six million migrants over the next twenty years the demographics experts tell us! Stating the obvious �“ Britain is one of the most overcrowded countries on the planet. Yet despite the ruinous effects upon society, community and the environment arising directly out of immigration fuelled overpopulation - the Government, the Establishment parties and the so-called “Greens” are determined that we should have even more!

Immigration fuelled overpopulation is the greatest controllable threat to our environment today. Yet “plastic environmentalists” �“ such as those in the Green Party �“ refuse to acknowledge the link between immigration, overpopulation and environmental destruction.

Such people are, in effect, collaborating with the EU puppet regime in Westminster and working against the very cause they claim to champion. To stand back, to look the other way, to ignore what is staring us in the face - is an act as breathtakingly stupid as it is cowardly. Commonsense demands that environmentalists should campaign against immigration �“ not as an act of “racism” - but as a necessity to protect what remains of our environmental heritage.

Immigration = overpopulation = environmental ruin �“ it really is as simple as that!

The time for sitting on the fence and grumbling about the state of our nation is over - it’s an indulgence we can no longer afford if we are to survive! We owe it to our forebears - men and women who gave their all in the defence of our island home - as well as to the generations of brethren English, Scots, Welsh and Irish yet to come.

It’s time to stand up and be counted and what other possible way than by joining the BNP - the British Resistance here .

Today’s news that British poultry producers are facing ever increasing premiums on the price of South American grown GM-free soya feed �“ due to the disturbing fact that overseas soya producers are increasingly switching to gm-soya - prompts us to reprint a story that Land & People posted two years ago this very month.

We reported then:

According to a report in the New York Times, an unapproved variety of genetically engineered grass has been discovered growing in the wild in what scientists say could be the first instance in the United States in which a biotechnology plant has established itself outside a farm or GM test zone.

Ecologists claim to have found the grass plants growing in central Oregon close to a site used for GM field tests a few years ago.

Although it is not thought that grass will pose an ecological threat, it is considered proof that GM field tests cannot be adequately controlled.

One ecologist commented: ‘It is a cautionary tale that you have to think about the possibility of plants escaping into populations where there are wild relatives present!’

This variety of genetically modified grass, called creeping bentgrass, is being developed by the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and Monsanto - apparently for use on golf courses! It differs from natural varieties of grass, having an additional bacterial gene that makes the grass resistant to certain herbicides. The purpose behind this designer grass is to allow groundskeepers to spray golf course greens and fairways with herbicide without damaging the grass! A trivialisation of science if ever there was - in our opinion!

Currently the United States Department of Agriculture is considering whether, or not, to approve the GM grass. Their decision may be influenced by a paper published two years ago by scientists at a laboratory in Oregon. This paper showed that pollen from a test plot of the grass had spread as far as 13 miles downwind! That made it likely that genetically engineered grass would be found in the wild, though the scientists did not look for it specifically.

The problem for GM field-testing, for species that produce air borne pollen, is obvious just how do you prevent contamination outside of the test sites?

Once again an unforeseen consequence has come to light, one that fortunately does not appear to have any major significant ramifications. But how long will it be before some well-meaning GM trial results in an opening of a biological Pandora’s Box with dire consequences for all humanity?

Mother Nature has a habit of striking back!

A worrying tale by anyone’s standards! However, as more and more acreage in South America is turned over to the production of GM-soya for its oil (the vegetable residue being processed into chicken feed), we are left wondering just how do producers ensure that their GM-free crops remain free of GM contamination?

In this little article from Yorkshire we see a Tory MP complaining, rightly, about the EU intention to force all UK drivers to switch on their light’s during day-time!

The MP bemoans the fact that even though the government agrees with him, it is powerless to oppose the will of the EU directive!  A pity therefore that he belongs to a Party that refuses to consider, ever, leaving the EU!

Even so we are obliged to Greg Knight MP for explaining so succinctly just how redundant he and his 645 fellow MP’s really are!

‘We don’t need to see the lights’

Published Date: 07 August 2008
By Staff Copy

LEGISLATION that will force all drivers to switch their lights on during daylight hours has been attacked by MP Greg Knight. The local representative is furious that the European Union will issue a directive stating that all vehicles built from 2011 must have the daylight lamps fitted as standard. He fears that the move will increase fuel consumption and emissions by ab out five per cent. Mr Knight, who is chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicle Group, said: “In an age when we are all being told we must reduce our emissions this move, which increases them, just does not make sense. “There is no UK benefit and the whole episode is a sorry state of affairs. “The British government actually agrees with me and has opposed these proposals but such is the extent of the power we have now ceded to the EU, that our own government is powerless to stop these misguided moves. “It may be that daytime running lights are a sensible idea for a Scandinavian winter but we do not need them here in the UK and they will increase fuel consumption across every European country, for every new car, in every season. “This one size must fit all European attitude to law-making is pathetic and quite unnecessary. “Why should motorists in the UK, France and Spain have to use lights �“ even during the summer?” The MP has, however, welcomed ‘a partial victory’ for campaigners against the measure, meaning that existing cars will have to use their headlights all day.

It never ceases to amaze us at Land & People why people vote for the Green Party. The only rational reason we can come up with is that they have no idea of what that outfit actually stands for beyond “they’re for the environment”! In other words, a great many amongst those inclined to vote for them, have no inkling as to their political philosophy, but view them as a useful receptacle for the registering of a protest vote.

The Green Party is, of course, the “environmentalist” party that apparently fails to see any connection between immigration and population growth �“ whilst being happy to concede that overpopulation is the greatest threat to our environment.

In addition, whereas the Green Party claims to believe in animal welfare �“ it has no policy on (or recognition of?) the abomination of ritual slaughter �“ the most prolific form of animal abuse practised in Britain today!

The explanation for these “ambiguities” is simple. The Green Party, like every other leftwing group, is working for a multicultural Britain and consequently favours fewer restrictions on immigration. It is because of its addiction to multiculturalism that it is forced to adopt irrational “flat earth-like” stances �“ stances that give rise to irreconcilable positions - such as immigration and overpopulation not being linked and ritual slaughter not constituting animal abuse! No wonder then that it is increasingly known as the “Melon Party” �“ being green on the outside �“ but red throughout!

The Melon Party’s official line on immigration - the phenomena which is exacerbating the overpopulation problem which, in tun, is increasingly wrecking our environment - is: “The Green Party works for a significant reduction in immigration control and the protection of the rights of migrant workers regardless of their ‘economic value’.”

As an aside, we wonder how many of the 1,300 people who voted Green during the recent Henley by-election would have done so had they previous knowledge of the following from the Green Party’s website here .

For those not in the know, LGBT stands for: Lesbian, Gay, By-sexual & Transgender.

We quote:

Greens launch Downing Street petition calling for instruction, training and guidance for all asylum staff

LGBT Greens has launched a petition on the Downing Street website calling for an urgent review of Home Office approaches to LGBT asylum seekers.

Phelim Mac Cafferty, spokesperson for LGBT Greens stated:

“After much campaigning on the issue since the cases of Iranian LGBT asylum seekers Pegah Emembakhsh and Mehdi Kazemi came to light, we have got clearance from the web team on the Prime Minister’s website for our petition.

“We now challenge the government to start treating LGBT asylum seekers with the fairness that they deserve. These are people who’ve often fled persecution, rape and torture who flee to our country and our response is to lock them up like criminals. We say enough is enough of this inhumane policy - we need to stick our necks out now and stand up for LGBT asylum seekers.”

The full text of the petition is:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to urgently review the way LGBT asylum seekers are treated.

In the light of the cases of Pegah Emembakhsh and Mehdi Kazemi, Iranian LGBT asylum seekers, who sought asylum in the UK , we call upon the Prime Minister for an urgent review of the services provided for all LGBT asylum seekers.

In particular we think that the following are needed for fair treatment.

1. Compulsory training for all asylum staff on sexual-orientation and trans-awareness.
2. Explicit instructions to all immigration and asylum staff, and asylum judges, that homophobic and transphobic persecution are legitimate grounds for granting asylum.
3. Clearer and up-to-date guidance from the Home Office for asylum judges to reflect the accurate scale of LGBT persecution throughout the world using expert information from NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
4. Legal-aid funding for asylum claims needs to be substantially increased.
Unquote:

Land & People ask: How can the promotion of either asylum or immigration possibly be in the best interests of the environment?

Back in the late 1970’s the large blue butterfly was pronounced extinct in Britain. However, following a reintroduction programme in the 1980’s, it has once again become established �“ if somewhat precariously so. The good news is that it is reported as having “bounced back” following last year’s bad weather to increase its numbers.

Last year the populations of the large blue butterfly fell alarmingly at Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Green Down nature reserve, near Somereton, as a result of a spring drought and poor weather during the flight period.

This year, however, more than 3,000 butterflies took flight in June at the site, which was recently selected as one of 20 “Butterfly Survival Zones” in a bid to save the country’s rarest species. According to the Somerset Wildlife Trust, the site is one of the best in Europe for the large blue since the species was reintroduced to the reserve in 1992.

The large blue butterfly is still considered to be globally threatened, as a result of loss and bad management of its habitat, and is one of a number of species prioritised for conservation action under Britain’s Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).

The large blue population at the Green Down reserve has been used as a donor site for further re-introductions in the area. Encouragingly the butterfly’s numbers have been boosted by a local farmer whom, we are informed, uses his Dorset horn sheep and ruby red Devon cattle to graze the site in a way which help the reserve’s wildlife.

Just another example of farmers and environmentalists working together for the preservation of our countryside and its habitats.

More on the sterling work being undertaken by the Somerset Wildlife Trust may be found here .