Editor’s View: Labour’s battery fading despite slow start
Defra farming minister © Telling Photography What does an electric buggy have in common with the Labour Party?
One seemingly doesn’t have much stamina for heavy work and the other is a Spanish UTV.
On test this week in the Machinery section, the Corvus Terrain EX4 has a lot going for it.
However, as reviewer James Andrews notes, load it with feed bags and point it up a muddy Welsh mountain and the battery will fade considerably faster than the marketing will have you believe.
See also: On test – electric Corvus UTV shows batteries have a way to go
About the author
Ever since US president Franklin Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office saw him work with astonishing speed to tackle the effects of the great depression of the 1930s, new administrations the world over have wanted to start with a bang.
This weekend marks 100 days of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government, and it’s fair to say they’ve faded on the first hill, laden down with self-inflicted embarrassments.
Very much the wheezing hum of the Corvus in tone rather than the John Deere 7810-esque roar of the Rooseveltian administration.
Of course, FDR is a very high bar, and there is still plenty of time for Labour to find another gear.
The 100-day scorecard, important as it is, may soon be forgotten given the first truly totemic moment of this parliament won’t come until the Budget at the very end of this month.
For Defra and its counterpart devolved administrations, the incredibly difficult weather of the past few weeks is surely laying the groundwork for a period of more intense scrutiny from farmers.
Decisions announced and schemes unveiled between now and next spring, even if they are for the long term, will be viewed alongside the day-to-day battle of losses being caused by above-average rainfall and the long winter to come.
One politician who does seem to have a bit of torque is Defra farming minister Daniel Zeichner, giving a lively address without notes to the 1,200 guests at the Farmers Weekly Awards last Thursday (3 October).
His recurring theme since taking office has been about stability for the sector and it’s clear he’s been talking directly to plenty of food producers. Yet this will only go so far if he is not able to back that up with actions.
Top of the list is the need for clarity on where the promised, but unpaid money from the Farming Recovery Fund has gone – funds that growers still recovering from last winter’s floods urgently need, never mind those battling this season’s rainfall.
In Scotland, we report on a rift over the pace of progress towards the schemes that will replace the Basic Payment Scheme, with NFU Scotland seemingly the cuckoo that has kicked other farming lobbyists out of Mairi Gougeon’s ministerial nest.
And in Wales, ministers, officials and lobbyists are still locked away deliberating the nitty gritty of the Sustainable Farming Scheme, seeking a solution that will not see a reprisal of the farmer protests from earlier this year.
If your battery of patience for this interminable process is running low, I don’t blame you – but the stakes feel very high indeed.