North West Farmers' Markets - Where and When

A different post this week, this one should probably go under the banner of ‘FYI’

Following last week’s blog, which touched on shopping at Farmers’ Markets, a number of people have said to me that it’s all well and good suggesting they should shop there but they never know where or when they are on.

Well nobody can say I don’t take these things on board. So having done some painstaking internet research, below are all of (I think) the Farmers’ Markets in the counties that surround Warrington. So now nobody’s got the excuse that they don’t know where or when these things happen.

I’m not bothered about my copyright on this one, so feel free to print it off and stick it on your fridge or cut and paste the relevant area for you. 

So here goes, info is on a county by county basis :

CHESHIRE

ALDERLEY EDGE     

Every 2nd Sunday of the month. 9am to 1pm

Alderley Edge Farmers’ Market

Aldeli,

Wilmslow Road,

Alderley Edge,

SK9 7QB

Website : http://www.alderleyedgefarmersmarket.com/Alderley-Edge-Market.php

ALSAGER                 

Every 3rd Saturday of the month. 9:30am to 1pm

Alsager Farmer’s Market

Lawton Rd

Alsager,

Cheshire

ST7 2AE

Website : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alsager-Farmers-Market/154121127961493?ref=stream

CHESTER                                 

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 4pm

Chester Farmers Market

Chester Town Hall Square

Chester

Christleton                                       

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 9.30am to 1.30pm

Christleton Country Farmers Market

The Ring O Bells,

Village Road,

Christleton,

Chester,

CH3 7AS

GAWSWORTH                                       Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 8.30am to 1.30pm

Clover Bank Organic Farm Farmers Market

Clover Bank Organic Farm,

Shellow Lane,

Gawsworth,

Macclesfield,

CW12 2NX

GLAZEBURY                                           

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 3pm

Bents Garden Centre Ltd

Warrington Rd

Glazebury

Cheshire

WA3 5NT

Website : http://www.bents.co.uk/Farmers%27-Market/

GOOSTRY                                               

Every last Saturday of the month

The Crown,

Goostrey,

CW4 8PE

HIGH LEGH                                            

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm.

Abbey Leys Farm

Peacock lane

High Legh Nr.Knutsford

Cheshire

WA16 6NS

Website : http://www.abbeyleys.co.uk/

KNUTSFORD                                          

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 11am to 4pm

Knutsford Artisan Market

Princess St

Knutsford,

Cheshire

WA16 6BU

MIDDLEWICH                                       

Every last Saturday of the month, from 10am to 4pm

Middlewich Artisan Market

Wheelock Street,

Middlewich,

CW10 9AB

MOBBERLEY                                          

Every 4th Sunday of the month. from 10am - 2pm

Mobberley Farmers Market

Mobberely Victory Hall

Mobberley

WA16 7JQ

NANTWICH                                           

Every last Saturday of the month, from 9am to 3pm.

Nantwich Farmer’s Market

Nantwich Town Square
Nantwich,

Cheshire

CW5 5DB

NORTHWICH                                         

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 3pm.

Northwich Artisan Market

High St

Northwich,

Cheshire

CW9 5DD

POYNTON                                             

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 9am to 2pm

The Farmers Arms,

Poynton,

Cheshire,

SK12 1RE

RODE HALL                                            

Every last Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1.30pm.

Rode Hall Farmer’s Market

Scholar Green

Cheshire

ST7 3QP

Website : http://www.rodehallfarmersmarket.co.uk/

STOCKTON HEATH                               

Every last Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm

Outside the Mulberry Tree Pub,

Stockton Heath,

Warrington

WEST KIRKBY                                        

Every 4th Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1.30pm.

West Kirby Farmers' Market

St Andrew's Church Hall

Graham Road

West Kirby,

Cheshire

CH48 5DE

Website : http://www.westkirbyfarmersmarket.co.uk/

GREATER MANCHESTER

ALTRINCHAM                                       

Every 2nd Sunday of the month, from 10am to 5pm.

Altrincham Farmers, Producers and Makers Market

The Market Hall

Greenwood Street

Altrincham

WA14 1SA

ASHTON-U-LYNE                                  

Every last Sunday of the month, from 9am to 3pm

Ashton Farmers' and Producers' Market

Ashton Market Grounds

Bow Street

Ashton under Lyne

OL6 6BZ

Website : http://www.tameside.gov.uk/ashton/market

BOLTON                                                 

Every 4th Sunday of the month, from 10am - 2pm

Queens Park,

Park Road,

Bolton,

BL1 4RU

CASTLEFIELD                                         

Every first Sunday of the month, from 10am to 4pm.

Castlefield Artisan Market

Castlefield

Manchester

M3 4NF

CHEADLE HULME                                 

Every 4th Saturday of the month, from 10am to 2pm.

Cheadle Hulme Farmers Market

The Kenilworth,

Cheadle Road,

Cheadle Hulme,

Cheshire

SK8 5DX

Website : http://www.alderleyedgefarmersmarket.com/Cheadle-Hulme-Market.php

CHORLTON

Chorlton Street Market                      

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 4pm

Manchester Road

Manchester,

M21 9PN

Chorlton Farmers Market and Craft Fair          

Every last Saturday of the month, from 11am to 4pm

Horse & Jockey Pub,

9 The Green

Chorlton,

M21 9HS

ECCLES                                                   

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 9.30am to 2pm

Eccles Farmers Market

The Mall

Eccles Shopping Centre

Eccles

Salford,

M30 0EB

GATLEY                                                  

Every 4th Saturday of the month, from 10am to 2pm

Gatley Farmers Market

Gatley,

Cheshire,

SK8 4AB

Website : http://www.alderleyedgefarmersmarket.com/Gatley-Market.php

HEALD GREEN                                       

Held at intervals throughout the year from 10am to 3pm

Heald Green Farmers Market

Nixons Farm,

Bolshaw Road,

Cheadle,

SK8 3PS

Website : http://www.alderleyedgefarmersmarket.com/Heald-Green-Market.php

HEATON MOOR                                    

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 11am to 3pm.

Heaton Moor Producer’s Market

Shaw Road

Heaton Moor

Stockport,

SK4 4AE

LEVENSHULME                                     

Every 4th Saturday of the month, from 10am to 4pm

Levenshulme Market

Levenshulme Station Car Park

Levenshulme

Manchester

M19 3BF

Website : http://www.levymarket.com/

LITTLEBOROUGH                                  

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 10am to 3pm

Littleborough Farmers Market

33 Market Place,

Peel Street,

Littleborough

OL15 8AQ

MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE

Piccadilly Street Food Market           

Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 11am to 5.30pm

Piccadilly Gardens

Manchester

Urban Market Bite                              

Every 1st & 3rd Saturday of the month, from 11am to 5pm

Old Granada Studios

Quay Street

Manchester

M60 9EA

MARPLE                                                 

Every 4th Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm

Marple Farmer’s Market

Wyevale Garden Centre

Dooley Lane

Marple,

Cheshire

SK6 7HE

Website : http://www.alderleyedgefarmersmarket.com/Marple-Market.php

NORTHENDEN                                      

Every 1st Saturday of the month, from 9am to 4pm.

Palatine Road

Northenden

Manchester

M22 4DH

RAMSBOTTOM                                     

Every 2nd Sunday of the month, 9.30am to 2.30pm

Ramsbottom Artisan Market

Market Place,

Ramsbottom,

Bury

BL0 9AJ

ROYTON                                                                

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 11am to 2pm.

Royton Real Food Market

Royton Market Place

Market Street

Royton

Oldham

OL2 8NH

STALYBRIDGE                                        

Every 2nd Sunday of the month, 9.30am to 2.30pm

Stalybridge Farmers' Market

Armentieres Square,

Stalybridge

SK15 2BR

STOCKPORT                                           

Every 3rd Sunday of the month, from 11am to 3pm

Stockport Farmers Market

Market Place

Stockport

SK1 1EU

TIMPERLEY                                            

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm

Timperley Farmers Market

World of Pets and Leisure,

Thorley Lane,

Altrincham,

WA15 7PJ

UPPERMILL                                           

Every 2nd Sunday of the month, from 9am to 2pm

Saddleworth Farmers Market

Saddleworth Museum,

High Street,

Uppermill,

Saddleworth,

OL3 6HS

WESTHOUGHTON                                

Every 1st Saturday of the month, from 10am to 4pm

Westhoughton Farmers' Market

Market Hall,

Westhoughton,

Bolton

BL5 3AZ

WOODFORD                                         

Every 3rd Sunday of the month, from 9am to 1pm

Woodford Farmers' Market

Woodford Community Centre

Chester Road

Woodford

Stockport,

SK7 1PS

LANCASHIRE

APPLEY BRIDGE                                    

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 10am to 1pm

Community Centre,

Appley Lane North,

Appley Bridge

WN6 9AL

Ashton on Ribble                            

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1pm

St Michael's Church Hall,

Tulketh Road,

Ashton on Ribble 

PR2 1AJ

Barrowford                                     

Every 2nd Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm (not Jan/Feb). 

Pendle Heritage Centre

Park Hill

Barrowford,

Lancashire

BB9 6JQ

Carnforth                                          

Every Wednesday from 9.30am to 2.30pm

Carnforth Charter Market

Market Street

Carnforth,

Lancashire

LA5 9JX

Chorley                                               

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 4pm

Chorley Food and Craft Market

Fazakerley Street

Chorley,

Lancashire

PR7 1BG

Website : http://chorley.gov.uk/events/Pages/Food-and-Craft-Market.aspx

Clitheroe                                            

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 10am to 4pm

Browsholme Tithe Barn

Browsholme Hall,

Clitheroe,

BB7 3DE

Colne                                                    

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 2pm.

Market Street,

Colne,

BB8 0HS

Cuerden Valley                                

Every 4th Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm

Cuerden Valley Farmers' Market

Cuerden Valley Park

Bamber Bridge,

Lancashire

PR5 6BY

Website : http://cuerdenvalleypark.org.uk/facilities/

Edgworth                                           

Every 1st Saturday of the month, from 10am to 4pm

The Wellbeing Farm

Plantation Road,

Edgworth,

BL7 0BY

Elswick                                                

Every 4th Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1pm

Elswick Farmer’s Market

Elswick Village Hall

Roseacre Road,

Elswick

Lancashire,

PR4 3UE

Follow on Twitter @ElswickArtisan

Great Eccleston                               

Every 3rd Wednesday of the month, from 9am to 1pm

Great Eccleston Farmer’s Market

Market Square

Great Eccleston,

Lancashire

PR3 0ZB

Great Harwood                               

Every 1st  Sunday of the month, from 8am to 2pm

Market Square

Great Harwood

Lancashire

BB6 7DD

Grimsargh                                          

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1pm

Grimsargh Village Hall,

Preston Road,

Grimsargh

PR2 5JS

Helmshore                                          

Every 1st Sunday of the month, from 9am to 2pm

Helmshore Textile Museum,

Helmshore,

Rossendale,

BB4 4NP

Hoghton                                             Every 3rd Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm

Merchants of Hoghton Farmer’s Market

Hoghton Tower

Hogthon,

Lancashire

PR5 0SH

Website : http://www.hoghtontower.co.uk/eat/farmers-market/

Holmeswood                                    

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 10am to 2.30pm

Mere Brow & Holmeswood Farmers’ Market

Homestead Farm Shop,

Wiggins Lane,

Holmeswood,

L40 1UJ

Kirkham                                               

Every 1st Saturday of the month, from 9am to 3pm.

Kirkham Lancashire Market

Market Square,

Kirkham,

PR4 2SD

Lancaster

Lancaster Charter Market                 

Every Wednesday & Saturday, from 9am to 4.30pm

Market Street

Lancaster,

Lancashire

LA11HT

Victoria Institute,                                

Every 1st Saturday of the month, from 10am to 1pm

Caton,

Lancaster,

LA2 9QT

Mawdesley                                         

Every 1st Saturday of the month, from 10am to 1pm

Back Lane,

Mawdesley,

L40 3SY

Penwortham                                    

Every 1st Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1pm. 

St Mary's Church Hall

Cop Lane,

Penwortham,

Preston

PR1 0SR

Poulton le Fylde                             

Every 4th Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1pm.

St Chads Church Hall,

Vicarage Road,

Poulton,

FY6 7BE

St Annes                                              

Every 1st Thursday of the Month, from 9am to 1pm

St Annes Farmers Market

The Square
St Annes Road West
Lytham St Annes
Lancs
FY8 1SB

Thornton Cleveleys                       

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1pm

Marsh Mill Village

Thornton Cleveleys,

Lancashire

FY5 3SX

Whalley                                              

Every 3rd Sunday of the month, from 10am to 2pm 

Whalley Farmer’s and Artisan Market

Whalley Arms Car Park

60 King Street

Whalley,

Lancashire

BB7 9SN

MERSEYSIDE

Aigburth                                             

Every 4th Saturday of the month, from 9am to 2pm

The Lark Lane Farmers' Market

Lark lane

Aigburth

Liverpool,

Merseyside

L17 9PF

Website : http://www.larklane.com/farmersmarket/

Prescot                                                

Every 1st Saturday of the Month, from 9am to 2pm

High Street

Prescot,

Merseyside

L34 6HG

Rainford                                             

Every 2nd Sunday in the month, from 10am to 4pm

Craft & Farmer's Market

Inglenook Farm

Moss Nook Lane

Rainford Bypass (A570)

WA11 8AE

Website : http://www.inglenook-farm.co.uk/index.html

St. Helens                                            

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, 10am to 4pm

Fir Tree Farm,

Pimbo Road,

Kings Moss,

St. Helens,

Merseyside,

WA11 8RG

Website : http://www.firtreeshopandcafe.co.uk/

West Derby                                         

Every 1st Saturday of the Month, from 9am to 2pm

West Derby Farmers Market

Sefton Arms Pub Car Park

1 Mill Lane

Liverpool,

Merseyside

L12 7HX

Wirral                                                 

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 1pm.

Wirral Farmers' Market

New Ferry Village Hall

Grove Street

New Ferry,

Merseyside

CH62 5BA

Website : http://www.wirralfarmersmarket.co.uk/

WOOLTON                                            

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 9am to 2pm.

Woolton Farmers' Market

Allerton Road

Woolton,

Merseyside

L25 7RE

Please note, it is advisable to check dates before visiting in case of changes.

I Don’t Like #Starbucks - I Love It!

Is it just who has a coffee based guilty secret ? It can’t be just me who has a two-faced view of the coffee chain-stores like Starbucks, Costa and Nero can it?  My secret is quite simply, despite all the tax dodging, I still prefer corporate chains to independent coffee shops.

I can see why this will be like a red rag to a bull to many people, greedy multinational corporate giants don’t exactly have a good PR image in this country do they? Add to that the fact that the likes of Starbucks openly admit to not paying their full UK taxes and are usually seen as taking over our towns and cities, forcing boutique and local coffee shops out of business, obliterating the previously unique identities of our high streets. So you see, my view may not be too popular.

If it seems as though there’s a Costa Coffee on every corner, you’d be right; this month Whitbread (who own Costa) revealed that it was opening three shops a week, or if you like, 150 this year. It’s rival Café Nero have said they’ll open 34 in 2014.

Then there are farm shops and farmer’s markets, I have issues with those too. I love them, everyone seems to love them, so why don’t I go and shop there?

Local Independents

I live in North Warrington, and am an avid supporter of local food businesses. As I say, I love going to farm shops and farmer’s markets, problem is they’re quite expensive and none of them exist near where I live, the nearest proper farmer’s market is once a month and is ten miles away in High Legh. Similarly, the nearest decent farm shop is over in Stretton, a good twenty minute, ten mile drive away.

I do actively support buying meat from my local butcher in Culcheth, a guy whose home-made sausages and locally-sourced meat are brilliant and attract a loyal army of customers. Indeed I often promote him via my Twitter account. Similarly I support a local café and the local sandwich shop (which incidentally does serve the best coffee I’ve ever had).  Both of these have fantastic personal relationships with their customers, and they’re probably right to be concerned about my loyalty.

So What’s My Issues ?

Well firstly the coffee issue, there is nowhere locally with the ambience of a chain coffee shop. I like to go in these places, plonk myself down in one of the comfy chairs for an hour, have a coffee and read the paper, read a book or catch up on some emails or some work. I can’t do this in the local café or sandwich shop because they’re just not geared up for someone sat there for an hour. They like a high turnover of trade, twenty minutes is about the maximum you can stay without feeling uncomfortable.

So instead I find myself either not bothering and sitting in my conservatory with a Tassimo coffee or I find myself driving to Starbucks or Costa both six miles away at Gemini. In reality, many people, including me, secretly love the likes of Starbucks and Costa. The coffee is reasonable (not the best but reasonable), the atmosphere is good and in general, the cheerful staff let me sit for more than an hour nursing one skinny latte and a chocolate muffin.

My other issues revolve around the whole farm shops and farmer’s markets thing. As I’ve said, locally there aren’t really any that are either regular or perceived to be affordable.

Let me say that to be attractive and change people’s buying habits, farmer’s markets need to be held weekly or fortnightly wherever possible. Producers should make shoppers aware of other outlets where their goods are available. Market organisers can help producers forge links with local shops, or even schools, hospitals and care homes. Box schemes can be set up to increase access for less mobile customers. I'm sure there are other ways.

Farmer’s markets are often seen as expensive and elitist, the preserve of the gullible, health-obsessed chattering classes willing to spend £10 on a few biodynamic tomatoes. In general, this view is not only annoying; it is wrong. Research has shown that much fresh produce is actually more expensive at supermarkets. With organic food, the price difference is striking: meat and poultry have been found to be on average 37% more expensive at the supermarket, whilst vegetables were 33% cheaper at farmers' markets. And at farmers' markets you really can taste the difference! Farm shops though are often considerably by the public to be more expensive than either supermarkets or farmer’s markets and from my experience, they usually are!

Corporates force independents to close

Many people often criticise the big corporate food and drink chains for putting independent shops out of business and yes this does happen. But don’t forget though, that often those “local” shops or restaurants are owned by larger businesses, but are masquerading as independent outlets.

The corporates may actually be the epitome of capitalist greed to some, but unlike locals, they are still forced to be transparent and accountable to their shareholders, they have commitments to corporate social responsibility, they also provide employment to many young people. Surely, when so many shops are lying empty, it is better that the space is filled by a branch of a coffee chain than by a boarded-up facade?

Tax Avoidance

“I’m boycotting Starbucks because they don’t pay their taxes” is something I’ve heard a lot. But there is nothing illegal about Starbucks' UK tax arrangements. And if you think there is something fundamentally amiss with them, the answer isn't tut-tutting of the sort favoured by David Cameron.

Whenever any tax case such as this erupts, Cameron's default position is moralising populism of the most opportunistic sort. Just look at his recent response to Gary Barlow avoiding tax. It may win a few favourable headlines, but no credible tax system is based on shaming people into paying.

The real villains of tax avoidance aren't the companies that practise it. Structuring your affairs in a manner that lawfully minimises your tax liability is the only rational and moral choice for individuals or companies. What kind of parent would deliberately arrange his finances so as to maximise his liabilities to the tax man and minimise the amount of disposable income left to spend on his family or save for his future? What kind of business would deliberately seek to pay tax it doesn't legally have to and thereby minimise the returns to its shareholders and reduce its ability to create jobs, develop new products, or cut prices to its customers? I suspect if any of us had the opportunity to avoid paying tax, we would! It is the tax system which is at fault, for without it there could be no tax avoidance.

Politicians shouldn't be trying to shame companies into paying a token amount of tax to win a few cheap headlines for themselves. They should focus on ending the loopholes which – however reprehensible we might think Starbucks, Gary Barlow, Jimmy Carr and company are – means that their tax-avoiding antics are completely legal.

Opportunity Knocks?

So I admit, I love Starbucks and Costa, if there was a local alternative I’d probably use it, but there isn’t. And the simple reason why these big corporate coffee chains are opening so many new shops and why their profits are up is because demand is there. And yes, I know that often those empty shops are there because an independent shop has been forced out of business, but I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t wish the empty premises on a street corner near to where I live, if derelict for several years, would be taken over by a Costa Coffee. 

All this leads to one thing locally, North Warrington lacks a decent coffee shop, a decent, affordable farm shop and a proper, regular farmer’s market. Opportunity Knocks – Is anyone brave enough to answer? 

Halal. More Deception From The Food Industry

So it has emerged that many of our supermarkets and restaurant chains are selling halal meat to millions of us without even telling us.

It appears there’s been a switch to slaughtering animals in line with Islamic ritual to save money because the end product can be eaten by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. More than 70% of all New Zealand lamb in supermarkets is from halal abattoirs – a fact not stated on the labelling. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have all confirmed to the UK press that they sell this imported meat.

It’s not just the supermarkets. all chicken served by Pizza Express is halal something they fail to mention on their menus and other chains such as Domino's, Nando's, KFC, Ask and Slug & Lettuce all use halal meat in some dishes and locations.

Not Fair Game

My argument isn’t about halal meat as such and whether or not it is humanely or barbarically slaughtered but the fact that yet again we are being mislead by large corporations, out to make money through deception. It was only last year we had the horsemeat scandal, now it’s halal.

It seems they use Halal meat rather than normal meat because both Muslim and non-Muslim can eat it? That's not strictly true, Muslims could eat pork but choose not to, but if I don't want to eat halal I don’t get that choice anymore. It seems that the only way I can truly avoid halal is to be a vegetarian or only eat pork.

This isn’t a fair game going on here. How come it’s OK for Muslims to know where their meat comes from and how it was slaughtered but not the rest of us? In reality it’s an outrage that we are secretly being fed this meat, if this was the other way round and the Muslims were secretly eating normal meat can you imagine the outcry? And you’ve got to ask yourself, why would a Muslim buy halal food that isn't labelled as halal anyway? That doesn't make any sense to me!

You’ve also got to ask yourselves why aren't traditional British abattoirs being used anymore? Maybe because the majority have been forced out of business by these greedy corporations.

I actually find constantly being deceived and misinformed about halal by supermarkets, restaurants and pizza companies to be offensive to me! So are they saying it’s ok to offend me but not the minority who eat halal? I honestly don’t know.

So Why Not Just Label It ‘Halal’?

The reason labelling is opposed is obvious - many consumers do not want to buy the product. It's the same as with GM foods, labelling opposed and consumers not wanting the product. People need to be given the choice; big business should not be allowed to get away with selling products people don't want by withholding information about them.

Surely it defeats the object of it being Halal meat if it isn't labelled accordingly! A Muslim can only eat Halal meat so couldn't possibly purchase it unless he/she was sure that it was, no label, no surety.

The supermarkets know that once the word ‘halal’ is placed on the meat it will not sell and they will be left with an awful lot of unsold meat. If I know meat is halal I won't buy it and I don't care if the animal has been stunned, I don't want to eat halal meat and I’m sure there are many others who feel the same way. But it should be labelled so that shoppers have the choice.

I can see why people wouldn’t buy or eat meat if it’s halal. So label it and give people the choice. There again why would people go to a supermarket to buy meat anyway? Did we not learn after the horsemeat deception? Local butchers are much healthier and more trustworthy.

And we still don’t know why they sell it unidentified in the first place, is it just cheaper to slaughter the animals using the halal method?

Peace of mind

I believe that information about stunning and method (Halal/Kosher/neither) should be made clear prior to purchase. This would give peace of mind to those in the relevant religions about the food they consume, and those that disagree with certain methods likewise.

If supermarkets want to make some cash and get people through the doors they need to, stop deceiving us, give us the choice, they have a lot of buying power to dictate change here. Maybe they should create a specific “Halal” range and a “Best of British” range that’s non-halal and say so. People will have peace of mind that they know what they’re getting and the supermarket’s ethics won’t be brought into question.

Local Butchers

At the end of the day we are British people and want to eat British food slaughtered the British way, so that’s all the more reason and a very good one too, for people to make sure they use their local butchers! People want to know where their food comes from, your local butcher should be able to tell you exactly where it’s come from and how it was slaughtered.

I must say I am absolutely shocked that the New Zealand lamb sold in this country is halal; simply solution is don’t buy it, buy Welsh lamb instead, it’s a more sustainable alternative too.

So its off to the local butcher for me, no more takeaways and shopping for meat in supermarkets as I strongly object, not necessarily to the slaughter of animals in such a cruel fashion but being deceived and no knowing what they’re selling me. I know my butcher won’t do that, his reputation is too much to lose.

What To Do?

Ban halal meat? Denmark and Poland have already banned religiously slaughtered meat but in this country we’re too wet to even attempt to do this, so it looks like we’re stuck with it.

What I think people are more upset about is that it has all been kept quiet, which makes everyone believe the companies involved know the reaction they will get. People have the right to choose whether to eat meat that has been humanely killed or by the halal way. Once again the minority have been pandered to and the majority kept in the dark. Seriously, we have the right to know and make our own choices, but then a lot of these companies know that if they are upfront they will lose a hell of a lot of custom, but that is their problem, not the consumers.

At the moment, when these supermarkets label the meat ‘halal’ how can a Muslim person be sure it is and how can non-muslims be sure that meat that is unmarked is not ‘halal’? Meat needs to be properly labelled so we all have the right choice. It's clear why it isn't because these greedy supermarkets will be left with a load of unsold meat - and they can't have that can they? 

We need to start asking questions when we eat out. If valued customers ask then the businesses will have to account for their behaviour. As it is, no one says anything so they continue to get away with it and deceive us. Maybe when we all go to these restaurants we should say that we’ll only eat the meat if they can confirm its non-halal. Or maybe we shouldn’t eat or shop anywhere that sets out to deceive us in the first place. 

Air Ambulances Funded by Charity – Good or Bad ?

We've all been held up on the motorway at some point by a smash where the Air Ambulance has had to attend. In general, I think we all appreciate their existence, and are re-assured that they’re there for us if we need whipping off to hospital quickly in a life threatening condition. Statistics show that one air ambulance takes off somewhere in Britain every 10 minutes during daylight hours, and continue to do so without most of us knowing very much at all about how they operate or who pays for them.

What a lot of people aren't aware of is that like the RNLI and Mountain Rescue; this wonderful service isn't state funded but funded by charitable donations to each unit. My initial reaction to this was “Whoa! - Why is a life-saving service not provided for by the state yet the likes of Police helicopters are?” But then I started to think about it and began to realise maybe it is better kept away from the state. To arrive at this conclusion I needed to do some digging and came up with quite a few facts. 

The Facts

Historically, over the last 20 or so years, air ambulances have been set up across the country with no overall planning, no agreed funding and no clear, bespoke system of regulation. As a result, there is an imbalanced patchwork of services, heavily skewed towards southern England, all relying to a major degree on charitable donations.

According to Wikipedia, there are twenty-seven air ambulance services in the United Kingdom using either helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. Thirty-six helicopters operated by commercial companies and funded by charitable organisations, cover England and Wales. Scotland however is different; they have two helicopters and two planes operated by the Scottish Ambulance Service, whose air wing is the only publicly funded air ambulance in the UK.

Rather like hospices, which on average get a third of their income from the government, air ambulances have developed alongside the NHS, but are complementary to it. We are talking here primarily about "Hems", helicopter emergency medical services, which airlift casualties to hospital. However, the precise role of the individual services varies widely. London's Air Ambulance responds only to major trauma incidents, whereas other services will fly to "retrieve" people who have suffered heart attacks or broken bones and will undertake inter-hospital transfer. Most carry only a paramedic, but the London service always has a doctor too. In 2013, the solitary London Air ambulance attended 1,819 “Patient Missions”, that’s five a day on average.

The charities/air ambulances are represented by two umbrella organisations, the Association of Air Ambulances and the Air Ambulance Service (AAS). The AAS's extensive fundraising – it has over 30 charity shops - means that it pays for everything it does. From the moment it is called on by ambulance control, it says, no cost falls on the NHS. Most other charities rely on paramedics provided by the local ambulance services with which they work, or get all their drugs and equipment from them, while some simply fundraise to lease a helicopter for the NHS.

Indirect Subsidy

London's Air Ambulance, which in the past has had sponsorship from Express Newspapers and Virgin, had 18 personnel seconded from the NHS in 2011-12 at a value of more than £1.2m. In addition, the charity received an NHS grant of almost as much again, representing more than a third of its cash income. This appears true of other air ambulances so they’re not entirely charity funded even if it is through an indirect route. From what I can tell therefore, The Department of Health do pay for the clinical staff on the helicopters but not for the pilots or the running costs, this is what the charity side pays for.

Should it be State funded?

My initial reaction to this question was ‘Yes’ however, thinking about it more, they’re a well-oiled money raising operation as it stands. With so many people voluntarily giving their money to an organisation like the Air Ambulances, why would the Government replace that funding with a tax to fund them?

The other side is, if they were government funded, they would come under the same austerity measures as the rest of the emergency services, we would be talking about which units are going to close down whilst ministers would be standing up saying that response times would not suffer during the cuts!

At the moment, even with charity money showing a tendency to slow, the UK air ambulances are in a pretty good shape and appear to have survived the downturn looking like they should hopefully come out the other side without cuts, which is more than the likes of the Fire Services can say.

In general, (depending on how many helicopters are operated) each air ambulance service needs £2.5m - £5.0m funding a year through charity. This equates to around a £100m nationally and they seem to be achieving it. Bringing this into state funding would see that £100m come out of the NHS budget thus causing more cuts in direct service as the money is diverted away from the Trusts. Therefore it seems eminently sensible that as long as people are donating and the service isn't failing then it should remain outside of the government’s clutches.

North West Air Ambulance

I couldn't write this piece without giving a push for my local air ambulance.

The North-west Air Ambulance which has been flying life-saving missions throughout the region since 1999. They operate three helicopters flying seven days a week, 365 days a year from bases at Royal Preston Hospital and Wythenshawe Hospital; they cover 5,500 square miles and a population of around eight million people. On average the North West Air Ambulance is called out five times a day, rising up to ten in the summer. It costs in excess of £4.2 million per year to maintain both aircraft, but with almost no central government or lottery funding, they rely on the generosity of donors. If you want to donate, you can do it here -  https://nwaa.net/donate

  

Scram! The Gripping First-hand Account of the Helicopter War in the Falklands

By Harry Benson

Having followed the Falkland’s War as a school kid and read quite a number of other books on the subject from many differing participants; I eagerly looked forward to reading this unique account. Overall, I wasn’t disappointed, though the ‘memories’ presented do seem to get a little blurred occasionally.

So why is it a ‘Unique’ account? Well as far as I’m aware, this is the only version of the Falklands War written through the eyes of the helicopter pilot’s, or as I now know them, the ‘Junglies’. The author, Harry Benson was a young, 21 year old helicopter pilot straight out of training. As a result, Harry didn’t sail with the task force but went in one of the later waves of pilots sent down to the battle, only arriving towards the end of the conflict. As a result, his own experiences of the war largely concern his immensely slow and frustrating voyage down there and then his flying in the last couple of weeks of the war.

The lack of personal experience doesn’t detract from the story as Harry has spent a significant amount of time interviewing his former colleagues, many of whom have never told their story before. He now presents a chronologically correct account of helicopter operations from the task force setting sail to the Argentine surrender and beyond.

Many of the stories told are pretty riveting such as the landing of SAS troops on the Fortuna glacier on St Georgia and their subsequent evacuation with the loss of two out of three of the helicopters involved. Descriptions of the rescue operations of the Welsh Guards after the attacks on Sir Galahad and Sir Tristan in Bluff Cove are particularly poignant.

A major takeaway from the book is the number of errors made by our own forces along with the lack of organization, leadership and co-ordination of resources that occurred. There are also details of a ‘friendly fire’ incident involving an Army Gazelle helicopter that I wasn’t previously aware of.

Notwithstanding the lack of leadership, the bravery of the Junglie crews comes through, especially as the war progressed. This is where Harry’s own story comes to the fore; flying night time rescue missions on the battlefield right up to the front line to ferry back the wounded from both sides whilst under artillery fire. It shows how adrenalin can often overtake experience,

One of the scariest moments was a sortie on Mount Tumbledown. They found themselves in an incredibly exposed position on the ground for, “little more than a minute but it seemed like an eternity”; they were being fired upon and could clearly see the heads of enemy soldiers moving around in their trenches. Only when they reached their debriefing were they informed, it had been an operational error - they had been sat right in full view of the Argentine front line.

A particularly obvious theme throughout the book is that of the inter-service rivalry that exists in our armed forces, I noted there being a particular lack of respect between the ‘Junglies’ and the ‘Pingers’ (anti-submarine helicopter pilots). Another neat put-down by Harry was of the RAF’s efforts to bomb the runway at Port Stanley via the long range Vulcan raids, the implication being it was just a token effort and a complete waste of time!

There is a level of bitterness in the book from the author with a recurring feeling that he was cheated out of a proper war by his late arrival on the frontline. Overall though, this doesn’t detract from what is an immensely readable and enjoyable book.

Marketing Call It ‘Rebranding’, I Call It Polishing a Turd

What is it about rebranding or renaming of not just products, but companies and in the UK’s case, whole Government departments? Where did it come from, how did it stealthily get under our finger nails? And why did they bother?

I suppose it’s an art, an extreme test of creativity and, when done right, results in a bouncing baby brand. You get visibility, findability, differentiation, relevance – a great renaming evokes an appropriate emotional response in the target market: hipness or gravitas or whimsy or dignity or aspiration. It’s the beginning of a compelling brand narrative. But when renaming is done badly as seems to happen in government circles it’s just a confusing waste of public money.

Snickers of Ulay

One of the early re-brands was that of the nutty chocolate bar Marathon which changed its name to Snickers, and then there was the likes of Oil of Ulay which morphed into Olay. Norwich Union became Aviva. All well and good in the private sector, it’s their money; they can do what they want with it really but it does cost money !

Aviva must actually rate as the best. Once you had Commercial Union, General Accident, and Norwich Union. Through various incarnations they became CGU, CGNU then NU and finally Aviva. All product literature and all stationary gets reprinted each time with the old stuff being chucked. So not just expensive but environmentally unfriendly too!

Gove’s Fluffy Fun Factory

When it comes to the Government though, now that’s our money they’re using. I didn’t realise how often they did these things but it’s more common than you think. Can anyone remember, for example, what the government department responsible for schools is called at the moment? Is it the The Department for Children, Schools and Families, Department for Education and Skills? Department for Education and Science? Department of Education or Department for Education? Or maybe it’s just Michael Gove’s Fluffy Fun Factory?

I could look it up but to be honest I really can’t be arsed with it. The task appears even more hopeless when you realise that just about every other government department goes through a similar rebranding, wasting hundreds of millions of our pounds in the process.

I suppose If they are going to waste our money on changing the names of their Departments how about eradicating the word "Defence" from "The Ministry of...." and sustituting the word "War" which is what the Department used to be called, and is more akin to what it’s been for the last 15 years.

Labour were worse for it

The last Labour government spent a small fortune on department rebrands. In 2009, one rebranding project, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was renamed Communities and Local Government (CLG). The change involved producing a new logo for the department’s website and headed paper. In a parliamentary answer, a Minister explained that the name change was deemed necessary to ‘emphasise the mission of the department’. Freedom of Information documents revealed that the rebranding cost £24,765. The DCLG was only established in May 2006, after the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, under John Prescott, was abolished following a string of revelations about him shagging his secretary. Interestingly Prescott spent £645 of public money on a new brass plaque for his office, replacing a sign saying Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with one which read Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. He was given the sign as a memento when he left his office in June 2007.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was renamed twice between 2005 and 2007 at a cost of £250,000. Then in 2009, Lord Mandelson decided to change its name for a third time to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills!!!

Why change these departments names at all? We all know that virtually all departments should be called: "Department for waste and sabotage and perks for the few at the expense of the many"

Why bother?

Why do they continually rebrand? Well In the private sector three points are usually considered

1. It could be the existing company name has become inappropriate or faded or failing, even these judgments put storm clouds on the horizon because they are subjective.
2. There are always timid people who believe names shouldn’t change, which adds rumblings of thunder to the clouds.
3. There are fears of losing brand equity/visibility/reputation/whatever if the transition is badly handled.

These rebrands aren’t always successful; the company I work for has rebranded and renamed itself 4 times in the 10 years I’ve been there. The name now has gone back to virtually what it was when I joined.  

But do these really apply to Government Departments? I doubt it somewhat. Perhaps ministers really do believe things can mask the truth about something.

One Success So They Kept Doing It

We’ve all heard of Sellafield in Cumbria, well many moons ago it had the name Windscale and the reputation of an evil, radiation leaking, nuclear reprocessing plant, something it still is by the way. But some bright marketing spark decided the best way to get rid of the reputation of Windscale was to rebrand it as Sellafield, a place which has only ever dispensed love and fairy dust into the Irish Sea. It worked and since then it’s been an unbridled success. It’s even a tourist attraction with its own Visitor’s Centre.

But that was the only real success they had. Government ministers conveniently forget the £2million that got lost when the Post Office tried to deliver a disastrous name change to ‘Consignia’ more than a decade ago.

A benefit cheat who claimed this sort of money would be prosecuted and publicly shamed. But ministers can waste millions to billions and get away scot-free. There are many ministers and departments of government in need of serious rebranding to reflect their true worth. My choice of name for both would be Unemployed and Defunct. This would solve a very large part of our financial problems. If we did not employ so many idiot ministers they would not be available to waste public revenue on these idiotic schemes.

Marketing a Junior Industry

The only thing I can put all this down to is the emergence of marketing as a bonafide industry in itself. This triumph of style over substance in Government didn’t simply start with Mrs Thatcher’s voice coach or with Tony Bliar’s orthodontist. Rather it was when someone decided that “marketing” was a proper career rather than something the secretary turned their hand to. Astonishingly, the universities were persuaded that you should be able to get a degree in it.

So, from the early 80s, thousands of talented and otherwise intelligent young people were persuaded to pop on a pair of red-framed specs, grab a brightly coloured waistcoat and some yellow socks and talk rubbish at us for the next 30 years. 

So, having just demolished an entire ‘creative’ industry, I’ll leave you with one question. What’s best: name change or real change?      

Bliar – The Movie: Part 3, Blair’s Toxic Legacy

On the 27^th June, 2007, Toby left office as UK Prime Minister and disappeared into the wilderness, ha, ha, if only that were the case! He should have been charged and taken to taken to court on numerous criminal acts which vary from war crimes, to lying to parliament in general, there was the cash for honours scandal,  then there were the lies about his part in giving Formula One an exemption from a ban on tobacco advertising after meeting Labour £1M donor Bernie Ecclestone. Seven years on the list continues to grow but still no summons.

All the time Toby continues to strut the world stage, pretending to be bringing peace to the Middle East whilst he rakes in £20 million per year (or maybe even more) to support his vast property empire. He also thinks he is a suitable candidate for the office of President of Europe. But maybe he doesn't realise that should he assume that office, he would then be located somewhere handy for the War Crimes Court at The Hague.

So What Did He Leave Us With?

• A political culture of unelected quango’s; special advisors and spin doctors.
• A 'No responsibility for their actions' culture for ministers and senior civil servants.
• A system in the NHS involving paying people off with a gagging order to stop them revealing how bad things had become under New Labour's "Targets Before People" culture. The North Staffs fiasco brought this to a head.
• Let thousands of patients die needlessly in hospitals with appalling standards of "care" whilst introducing a totally ineffective hospital inspection body.
• Doubled the pay of GPs then let them shed responsibility for providing evening, weekend and holiday medical care to their patients while privately making a fortune, moonlighting at A&E departments.
• Thousands of PFI deals across the country which at the time went under the New Labour investment banner but which we will still be paying for in twenty years time at ten times the original cost.
• The 'vulgarisation of Britain' campaign where to fly the national flag is deemed a racist act.
• A 'peace process' in Ulster, which involved rolling over and letting the IRA tickle his tummy while he gave them more or less anything they asked for.
• Turned the police force over to management speak target-chasers, who deflected the aim of the force from fighting crime and protecting the public to persecuting anyone with loose change. The victim was turned into the criminal.
• In the decade before the 2011 census, let 4 million migrants into Britain to fulfil "social objectives", which included trying to get more potential Labour supporters into the country to become dependent on benefits courtesy of the taxpayer.
• Politics as a career rather than a vocation now being the norm, leading to selfish, gutless MP’s who’s only convictions are to themselves.
• A looming ‘lights-out’ issue in the power sector, no investment in new power stations during the New Labour reign whilst existing power stations were closed means we are approaching potential supply problems.
• Bliar was one of the instigators of a war that led to the deaths of three-quarters of a million people, that became the best recruiting tool of jihadists from Dhaka to Vancouver, that destabilised a region, that re-enforced the attitudes of the most tyrannical and violent regimes around the world, that fractured this nation's belief in ethical and honest government, and in large part contributed to the economic mess we find ourselves in now.

The True Legacy

Anyone looking for the true legacy of Bliar and New Labour need look no further than the riots of the summer of 2011. A know drug dealer who was the target of a Metropolitan police operation against guns and drugs was shot dead during an arrest operation. His "community" rioted, looted everything they could lay their hands on and burnt down their own shops and homes.

The rioting spread to other parts of the country, including Manchester, Salford, Birmingham and Liverpool. Looters operated under the noses of police, which had been emasculated by New Labour's cult of bogus human rights and which were led by senior officers who had bought into New Labour's culture of a society without responsibility and blame.

The Labour party and its allies at the BBC called the riots a direct consequence of "Tory" cuts in public spending – cuts which at the time, hadn’t yet been made! Labour apologists ignored the uncomfortable truth that New Labour's 13 years of reckless spending had driven the economy into bankruptcy and left a mountain of debt which will be a burden for at least a generation. They also failed to acknowledge that the rioters were schooled during the New Labour era of “Education, Education, Education” or were immigrants brought in when New Labour opened our borders. We had ended up with the worst behaved teenagers in Europe, who sought a New Labour ASBO as a badge of dishonour to rule their neighbourhood with.

High taxes, low tax thresholds and distorted welfare policies created an army of welfare junkies, families in which no one works or indeed intended to work, and a culture in which idleness paid more than employment. This is what Bliar’s policies created, what really lead to the 2011 riots was a toxic legacy of Bliar.

The Women

After leaving office, whilst Bliar remained married to the awful Cherry there were other women in the frame, were there any affairs? Was he playing away? We’ll probably never know. What we do know is that Rupert Murdoch divorced his wife, Wendi Deng after ‘something’ went on between her and Bliar alone at the Murdoch family home. There’s also a level of ‘closeness’ between him and the former News Of The World editor Rebekah Brooks that seems to go way beyond a professional relationship. We know he sent her a series of text messages signed off with kisses at the height of the phone hacking scandal. He repeatedly offered her his help as she prepared to face questions from MPs in the days before she was arrested. Getting a little too close there Toby?

Succession

On leaving office, Toby fulfilled his pre-election deal with Brown allowing Brown to replace him as both Labour leader and Prime Minister. However, with the economic storm brewing, Toby knew that Brown didn’t stand a cat-in-Hell’s chance of being re-elected so he’d already started the process of grooming his true protégée. This was a guy from a similar background, with a similar ambition, right wing, New Labour tendencies and was liked by the people. Toby set about grooming David Milliband as his ultimate successor, this was the man who would bring Labour back to power in 2015 and keep Toby on as a highly paid “special adviser”. All was going to plan right up to the leadership election in 2010 when David won the first round of elections as planned.

What Toby hadn’t forseen was David’s ultra-left brother, ‘Red’ Ed Milliband !! RedEd had gone native and gained the support of the unions. Ever since being banished to the far corners of the earth by Mrs Thatcher, the unions had been looking for a leader who could allow their re-birth and re-growth, up until then, all the party leaders (Labour and Conservative) knew it was political suicide to allow the unions back into politics. Red Ed however didn’t care about that, he didn’t care about the future of the party, he didn’t care about his own brother either. He was going to win this election and the union vote would win it for him. And so it came to pass that Ed shit on his own brother beating him by the narrowest of margins (1.35%). Yet another of Bliar’s legacies went toxic.   

Blair’s Toxic Legacy

Bliar carried on to the end insisting that everyone thought he had done the right thing, and that he was viewed as a combination of Lady Thatcher, Winston Churchill and Mother Teresa, with a touch of Eric Clapton thrown in for good measure. The public however, saw a corrupt liar, who postured, failed and moved on other disasters. He became the first Prime Minister ever to be interviewed (several times) by the police following the exposure of New Labour's policy of selling honours for donations and loans to the party. Public perception is also one of a man who saw trouble coming over the hill and scarpered, leaving others to clean up his mess.

Bliar's government failed to undo the worst excesses of the earlier Tory governments, with New Labour effectively becoming Thatcherism-Lite. The PFIs were kept in place and increased, the City allowed its head, civil liberties weakened, unemployment and the welfare state allowed to grow while employers were given the wink to keep their workforce "flexible", the nation ended the noughties torn apart by inequality and geography, all in the name of Bliar’s political expediency.

I like to think that upstairs in Bliar’s attic there is a Dorian Gray type painting which keeps a track of his moral decay. While downstairs, he continues to pamper himself and strut on the world stage, his painting in the attic acts as a reminder of the effect of each act of deceit and betrayal, every unnecessary death in Iraq, and each dodgy million pound deal, has upon his soul. Each sin is displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging - for this painting was completed before Bliar expediently became a Catholic. By now the vision which greets Toby when he dares venture upstairs most be truly stomach churning.

The Ultimate Irony

How ironic is it that a man who promised to be purer than pure while trying to wrap himself in Lady Thatcher's successes should end his career as a raddled old political money grabber; as someone tainted to the hilt in lies, corruption and sleaze?

How ironic is it that a man who was always ready to apologize for every single one of his country's imagined past misdemeanours never saw any disgrace in his own crimes against the British people?

I’d like to think that if the Scot’s do get their independence they’ll extradite him and put him on trial for his war crimes, unlikely but a nice thought nonetheless. Maybe one day someone will make “Blair The Movie” and tell the real story of his life.

  

Credits

A specific credit for this blogpost goes to @LeonieThomas18 who first came up with the phrase “Blair’s Toxic Legacy” on Twitter and inspired me to write this trilogy. Thanks Leonie.