Yes, he wants to keep the farming vote.
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FWIW I voted Remain and strongly support continued EU membership.
But it is not logical or correct to say that farmers voted to leave the EU knowing they would lose 50% of their income. The farming subsidy comes out of money returned from the EU budget but it came from taxpayers in the first place as the UK is a net contributor. The farmers not unreasonably assumed that outside the EU either (a) farm gate prices would lead to a sustainable business or (b) the Government would pay subsidies directly.
CAP is the worst thing about the EU, a boondoggle to keep French and Italian farmers onside. Personally I think the EU should have been more protectionist about farming and pushed farm gate prices to sustainable levels. Properly applied it could have benefited poor farmers outside the EU by sensibly applied trade agreements. As we face a resources crunch, eventually food prices will rise due to loss of output in most of the world. The EU is prepared for an energy crisis by levying high taxes on oil, encouraging people to use it economically - we use less than half as much as the average American. A similar approach to food could make the EU more sustainable. As the farm cost of food is often barely 10-20% of shop prices, it is possible farmers could be weaned off benefit culture without a serious short term impact on food prices. No more spending money on anti-smoking campaigns while paying Italian farmers to grow tobacco!
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Bearing in mind that Europeâs public transit infrastructure alone can account for a lot of that difference. Low population density begets higher personal vehicle dependency, and a higher chance of an oil-heated home as well.
What infrastructure there is often is just maintained enough to say it exists.
Put it this way: when I was a student in London, Ontario and took the 200km train ride home to Toronto, it was the norm for the train to arrive around the time it was supposed to be reaching its destination. The (diesel) train couldnât go more than 100km/h, because a lot of the track it was running on was so old. The trip, once the train showed up, took about as long as it did in the late 19th century.
Yeah, I know the trains are late and slow in Europe too. But not like that.
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Per-capita oil consumption in Oz is about 2/3rds of what it is in the US, btw. With about 1/10th the population density.
Density does play a role, but it is very much not the whole story.
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And, mostly, a much warmer climate.
Not a lot of energy spent on heating, no. OTOH, the bill to run a residential air conditioner in the centre or the north is extreme.
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Yeah, but the centre is famously not just low density, but no density.
Whatever happens, the transfer to clean energy is not going to be done evenly and simultaneously. I can see an interim situation where rural areas take longer to convert over â or are abandoned temporarily or permanently when the costs become too high.
Europe was smart to convert over to electric trains etc way earlier. Now itâs more a case of just transitioning the source of that electricity.
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Thatâs kind of what gets me though; if you depend on a business that you own and operate for your livelihood, why would you risk it on the basis of assumption? You say ânot unreasonablyâ but the Toriesâ track record on public spending is miserable at best, and it doesnât take an economic genius to work out that Brexit will damage exports.
It seems odd 58% of them would literally bet the farm and risk a comfortable status quo for unpromised (and in all honesty, extremely unlikely) benefits without a serious campaign of disinformation telling them that it was in their best interest.
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