BEES
25 May 2008
What is the connection between bees, Brussels and British bureaucracy?
Unfortunately, the answer is that Brussels + British bureaucracy = disaster for bees.
As every child learns early in life, the humble bee performs an awe-inspiringly important ecological task. Without bees, no flowers - or, at least, not nearly so many of them. And, while we are at it, not nearly so many of anything else that grows and needs pollination.
But bees, like the rest of us, are prone to disease. And, when the disease gets bad enough, the whole intricate social world of the hive apparently implodes. I am told that you can fairly quickly get to a stage which is gruesomely described as "colony collapse".
To prevent this dire state of affairs, great experts - I gather we have some of the world's greatest experts in Britain - study bee disease and work out ways of averting it.
Or, at least, this is what they used to do, with a small grant from our beloved friends, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
This was a classic case of using taxpayers' money wisely. A little injection of public support for such research, which no one bee keeper could possibly afford, used to provide for work that helped to keep all bees healthy, with huge ecological benefits for us all.
But now, dear reader, this expertise is no longer being properly funded.
Unless you are a political anorak like me, or a bee expert, or profoundly interested in these matters for some other reason, I will take a very considerable bet that (1) you didn't know that the money was being spent in the past, (2) you didn't previously know - even if you now believe me - that the money has been cut, and (3) you are, therefore, part of the very large number of people for whom this particular action by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been entirely invisible.
Why, you may ask, has the decision been made to reduce the funding?
This is where the toxic mixture of Brussels and British bureaucracy comes in.
The cause of the problem is a shortage of funds within the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
What, you may ask, is the cause of the shortage of funds within the Department? It is the fine which has been levied on the Department by the European Commission.
And what is the cause of the fine? It is the Department's astonishing bureaucratic incompetence in failing to distribute Single Farm Payments on time.
Strange, isn't it?
We all pay taxes. The taxes go through to the EU. The money comes back in the form of Single Farm Payments destined for British farmers. The British bureaucracy fails to distribute the money on time. The Commission in Brussels fines the British bureaucracy. And, hey presto, our bees are under threat.
And, as if this weren't depressing enough, I learned last week from West Dorset farmers that we are due for another round.
It seems that, despite all the valiant efforts by Lord Rooker to improve the so-called Rural Payments Agency (perhaps more aptly entitled the Rural Disappointments Agency), we are once again going to miss the final date for some payments this year. So there will be further fines, less money for research, and more threat of colony collapse for our bees.
I don't suppose it ever occurred to the gardeners of England that the proliferation of their flowers might be inhibited by a lack of bureaucratic skill in manipulating government computers. But that is the world we now inhabit.
Unfortunately, the answer is that Brussels + British bureaucracy = disaster for bees.
As every child learns early in life, the humble bee performs an awe-inspiringly important ecological task. Without bees, no flowers - or, at least, not nearly so many of them. And, while we are at it, not nearly so many of anything else that grows and needs pollination.
But bees, like the rest of us, are prone to disease. And, when the disease gets bad enough, the whole intricate social world of the hive apparently implodes. I am told that you can fairly quickly get to a stage which is gruesomely described as "colony collapse".
To prevent this dire state of affairs, great experts - I gather we have some of the world's greatest experts in Britain - study bee disease and work out ways of averting it.
Or, at least, this is what they used to do, with a small grant from our beloved friends, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
This was a classic case of using taxpayers' money wisely. A little injection of public support for such research, which no one bee keeper could possibly afford, used to provide for work that helped to keep all bees healthy, with huge ecological benefits for us all.
But now, dear reader, this expertise is no longer being properly funded.
Unless you are a political anorak like me, or a bee expert, or profoundly interested in these matters for some other reason, I will take a very considerable bet that (1) you didn't know that the money was being spent in the past, (2) you didn't previously know - even if you now believe me - that the money has been cut, and (3) you are, therefore, part of the very large number of people for whom this particular action by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been entirely invisible.
Why, you may ask, has the decision been made to reduce the funding?
This is where the toxic mixture of Brussels and British bureaucracy comes in.
The cause of the problem is a shortage of funds within the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
What, you may ask, is the cause of the shortage of funds within the Department? It is the fine which has been levied on the Department by the European Commission.
And what is the cause of the fine? It is the Department's astonishing bureaucratic incompetence in failing to distribute Single Farm Payments on time.
Strange, isn't it?
We all pay taxes. The taxes go through to the EU. The money comes back in the form of Single Farm Payments destined for British farmers. The British bureaucracy fails to distribute the money on time. The Commission in Brussels fines the British bureaucracy. And, hey presto, our bees are under threat.
And, as if this weren't depressing enough, I learned last week from West Dorset farmers that we are due for another round.
It seems that, despite all the valiant efforts by Lord Rooker to improve the so-called Rural Payments Agency (perhaps more aptly entitled the Rural Disappointments Agency), we are once again going to miss the final date for some payments this year. So there will be further fines, less money for research, and more threat of colony collapse for our bees.
I don't suppose it ever occurred to the gardeners of England that the proliferation of their flowers might be inhibited by a lack of bureaucratic skill in manipulating government computers. But that is the world we now inhabit.
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