Plan B Forum

Cows have been taken into a supermarket by dairy farmers protesting against the price they are paid for their milk.



About 70 farmers took two of their cattle into Asda, in Queensway, Stafford at about 12:30 BST to clear milk from the shelves, police said.

Shopper Adam Williams said "staff looked on in amazement", as the cows moved to the back of the store, "creating mess as they walked".

Farmers want the price of milk paid to them by supermarkets to be increased.

Supermarkets say there is no link between the price of milk on the shelves and what farmers are paid.

Stafford farmer Matthew Weaver, 38, said: "We needed something that would catch peoples attention and be a bit of fun."

Mr Weaver said farmers had come from Derbyshire, Shropshire and Warwickshire to take part in the protest. They were also planning to visit a Lidl store in Stafford and an Asda in Wolstanton.

Dairy company Muller UK and Ireland recently announced it would cut the price it paid farmers by 0.8p, because of low demand.

Guinevere wrote:Must be the Republican talking points for the day: SUBJUGATE!! SUBJUGATE!!

MajGenl.Meade wrote:Nice to see you channeling your inner-Trump

Daisy wrote:See this pisses me off.

We used to have controlled milk prices in the UK. Farmers complained that they wanted a free market and to be free of quotas and to sell the milk at the going rate.

Now that has happened and the global milk price has dropped they are blaming everyone but themsleves.

I dont know what they expect, its shitty that they are going out of business, but thats the deal they made?

rubato wrote:
Tell them to sell their excess cows for slaughter and just get over it. Just be glad they aren't coal miners.


yrs,
rubato

A Conservative MP tonight offered to bring forward a Private Member’s Bill which could ease Britain’s dairy industry crisis almost overnight.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, says he is ready to champion legislation which would make it illegal for any food to be sold below the cost of production, a measure farmers say would be a sure-fire way of them getting a decent return for their milk.

In France it has been illegal for ten years to sell food for less than it costs to produce. And, says Mr Liddell-Grainger, in view of the calamity now overtaking the dairy sector – with hundreds more producers poised to quit – such a measure is urgently needed in the UK as well.

He has already been allocated space in the Parliamentary timetable to introduce a Bill reinforcing controls on satnav providers.

But, he said: “It would be an easy matter to retain the allotted time and simply change the subject matter. And under the current circumstances I am convinced there would be strong cross-party support for legislation such as this.

“I’m afraid governments of both colours have watched this crisis creeping up ever since we got rid of the Milk Marketing Board. They have seen farmer co-operatives collapse, they have seen supermarkets and processors come to dominate the market totally and put farmers in a stranglehold, but they have done absolutely nothing about it.

“But this crisis has now reached such proportions that only Parliament can sort it out.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger said processors and supermarkets which still maintained the problem of falling milk prices was all the fault of global over-supply were being disingenuous.

“The fact is that British consumers have shown since the latest farmer protests started that they are willing to pay more for their milk: indeed thousands of customers of the surviving independent small dairies already do and do so happily.

“Under those circumstances it is entirely feasible for the shelf price to be raised to a level where a decent price – and a reasonable profit – can be delivered back to the farmer.

“All politicians need to be made aware that we are drinking in the last chance milk bar: another year of this and we shall be plunging headlong towards a dairy-free zone in this country.”



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A Conservative MP tonight offered to bring forward a Private Member’s Bill which could ease Britain’s dairy industry crisis almost overnight.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, says he is ready to champion legislation which would make it illegal for any food to be sold below the cost of production, a measure farmers say would be a sure-fire way of them getting a decent return for their milk.

In France it has been illegal for ten years to sell food for less than it costs to produce. And, says Mr Liddell-Grainger, in view of the calamity now overtaking the dairy sector – with hundreds more producers poised to quit – such a measure is urgently needed in the UK as well. ... "