Blood sucking ahdb

simon w · Mar 11, 2021

White rabbit said:
We have put a press release in the farmers guardian tomorrow which is worth a look, most people would already have seen we have yet another obstacle thrown in our path, these people at ahdb couldn’t lay straight in bed, first they encouraged us to have a ballot , no sorry wrong wording, they taunted us in to having a ballot, then when we caught them by surprise in winning they turned to the history books to dig out the old pmb stunt of weighting which of course worked for the pmb, they also managed to discount a number of levy payers who could not afford to pay , even though they had paid for the last 12 years, guy told us there were none so we have done some arm twisting now it appears there were 138 ,which you can assume they would have been no voters , you wouldn’t vote for another invoice when you couldn’t pay the last ,now they are saying it will to carry on for another year , more money into the pension pot and another £28,000 out of my bank . I just hope other sectors are watching, what was their slogan a vote every 5 years don’t make me laugh.

Good to see you back white rabbit. I think back to June last year when you started this campaign, no one could believe it possible to expose the discontent about the ahdb. Now others on the forum are seeing that may be Red tractor and the NFU have a similar belief that they don't need to listen to their members. I hope they take note of this result. Farmers are not here for their benefit its the other way round from now on.

Austin7 · Mar 11, 2021

White rabbit said:
We have put a press release in the farmers guardian tomorrow which is worth a look, most people would already have seen we have yet another obstacle thrown in our path, these people at ahdb couldn’t lay straight in bed, first they encouraged us to have a ballot , no sorry wrong wording, they taunted us in to having a ballot, then when we caught them by surprise in winning they turned to the history books to dig out the old pmb stunt of weighting which of course worked for the pmb, they also managed to discount a number of levy payers who could not afford to pay , even though they had paid for the last 12 years, guy told us there were none so we have done some arm twisting now it appears there were 138 ,which you can assume they would have been no voters , you wouldn’t vote for another invoice when you couldn’t pay the last ,now they are saying it will to carry on for another year , more money into the pension pot and another £28,000 out of my bank . I just hope other sectors are watching, what was their slogan a vote every 5 years don’t make me laugh.

White Rabbit as you have invested so much effort into this it mystifies me that you don’t understand the process. The first part is the one man one vote, you won, you could have won by one or five hundred and one it would made no difference to this part of the process as all the ballot does is to make AHDB go to the Minster with its tail between its legs. What is happening now is that AHDB are producing their excuse sheet, which they are absolutely entitled to do. What you need to do now is not send out ridiculous press releases exposing your ignorance. What you need to do is to sensibly lobby especially your Tory MPs with the tale of woe. They will pass those letters onto probably Victoria Prentice MP for Banbury or maybe George Eustice himself MP for Camborne and Redruth. Both have a farming background. If any of your gang are constituents then you have a direct line. AHDB are correctly pointing out to the Minister the wider Industry view and that is what the Minister will be considering. So harping on about the ballot is now irrelevant – you won. Your argument is now the industry benefits of deregulation.

White rabbit · Mar 11, 2021

Austin 7 we are in constant contact with John Hayes our MP , also a lot of quite influential people who have been extremely helpful. We have had help from places which would surprise and astound you.

Austin7 · Mar 11, 2021

White rabbit said:
Austin 7 we are in constant contact with John Hayes our MP , also a lot of quite influential people who have been extremely helpful. We have had help from places which would surprise and astound you.

John Hayes should know his stuff. If AHDB Potatoes lose I will have to get busy telling my MP not to take any notice of you. All the Minister has to do is to sort the management out. Should be interesting . Good Luck !

Goweresque · Mar 11, 2021

Austin7 said:
All the Minister has to do is to sort the management out.

I'm sorry but you're well out of order. What you're suggesting is the usual 'The man in Whitehall knows best' type condescending attitude towards the peasants, who obviously don't know what they are voting for, so we better make all the decisions for them. The vote was clear -end the levy now. Not enact some stitch up that keeps everyone in a nice safe job and pension and force the growers to go on paying for it on pain of imprisonment (which is ultimately what the threat is if you don't pay up).

Austin7 · Mar 11, 2021

Goweresque said:
I'm sorry but you're well out of order. What you're suggesting is the usual 'The man in Whitehall knows best' type condescending attitude towards the peasants, who obviously don't know what they are voting for, so we better make all the decisions for them. The vote was clear -end the levy now. Not enact some stitch up that keeps everyone in a nice safe job and pension and force the growers to go on paying for it on pain of imprisonment (which is ultimately what the threat is if you don't pay up).

Don’t blame the messenger. I do have some sympathy. When the Potato Council was set up the only legislation available to support it was the 1947 Industrial Organisation and Development Act. I fought as hard as I could to get it set up under primary legislation and made enough of a nuisance of myself with Tory backbenchers that David Naish was told by Gillian Sheppard, then Minister of Agriculture, to escort me to her office for bollocking. They sat in a row, Permanent Secretary and all. The Ministers message was my way or no way. Hence the legislation that allows one man one vote with the Minister deciding. Exactly what you are saying now was said to me around the country 27 years ago. However, I suspect that if the vote had been solely in Levy payers hands then it would have been weighted. You would have lost and as it is you live to fight another day.

White rabbit · Mar 11, 2021

simon w said:
Good to see you back white rabbit. I think back to June last year when you started this campaign, no one could believe it possible to expose the discontent about the ahdb. Now others on the forum are seeing that may be Red tractor and the NFU have a similar belief that they don't need to listen to their members. I hope they take note of this result. Farmers are not here for their benefit its the other way round from now on.

Thanks Simon altogether this as taken two and half years to get to this point, the things we have uncovered along the way as been unbelievable, I think growers are treated as cash cows each end of production.

Goweresque · Mar 11, 2021

Austin7 said:
Don’t blame the messenger. I do have some sympathy. When the Potato Council was set up the only legislation available to support it was the 1947 Industrial Organisation and Development Act. I fought as hard as I could to get it set up under primary legislation and made enough of a nuisance of myself with Tory backbenchers that David Naish was told by Gillian Sheppard, then Minister of Agriculture, to escort me to her office for bollocking. They sat in a row, Permanent Secretary and all. The Ministers message was my way or no way. Hence the legislation that allows one man one vote with the Minister deciding. Exactly what you are saying now was said to me around the country 27 years ago. However, I suspect that if the vote had been solely in Levy payers hands then it would have been weighted. You would have lost and as it is you live to fight another day.

So your argument is if the law was different then the outcome might have been different? Well if my aunt had balls and a d*ck she'd be my uncle. Its irrelevant what law the AHDB was set up under a gazillion years ago, or how it might have been set up if you'd got your way, what matters is the law as it stands today.

Which bit of 'People are fed up with having their pockets picked by an unelected and unaccountable quango' don't you understand?

Bestriding Spraak · Mar 11, 2021

White rabbit said:
We have put a press release in the farmers guardian tomorrow which is worth a look, most people would already have seen we have yet another obstacle thrown in our path, these people at ahdb couldn’t lay straight in bed, first they encouraged us to have a ballot , no sorry wrong wording, they taunted us in to having a ballot, then when we caught them by surprise in winning they turned to the history books to dig out the old pmb stunt of weighting which of course worked for the pmb, they also managed to discount a number of levy payers who could not afford to pay , even though they had paid for the last 12 years, guy told us there were none so we have done some arm twisting now it appears there were 138 ,which you can assume they would have been no voters , you wouldn’t vote for another invoice when you couldn’t pay the last ,now they are saying it will to carry on for another year , more money into the pension pot and another £28,000 out of my bank . I just hope other sectors are watching, what was their slogan a vote every 5 years don’t make me laugh.

I have always been a forward thinking individual and have often been ahead of the market with what we do. I also believe you only get benefit out if you put in first but in the case of AHDB and the statutory instrument this means you are forced to put in even when you can’t get any benefit out specially if your crop is niche or not supported.
This basis only suppresses development because you are paying for your competitors R&D when you actually need that money to further develop your own business. Horticulture is of coarse much different to other sectors not least because there are no subsidies to offset the waste of money spent on the levy. If the levy cost was just 2% of received subsidies as other sectors enjoy then maybe I wouldn’t feel as burdened by the levy.

White rabbit · Mar 12, 2021

Goweresque said:
So your argument is if the law was different then the outcome might have been different? Well if my aunt had balls and a d*ck she'd be my uncle. Its irrelevant what law the AHDB was set up under a gazillion years ago, or how it might have been set up if you'd got your way, what matters is the law as it stands today.

Which bit of 'People are fed up with having their pockets picked by an unelected and unaccountable quango' don't you understand?

I do not normally laugh till after lunchtime ( to many problems in a morning ) but in this case I made an exception.

Austin7 · Mar 12, 2021

Goweresque said:
So your argument is if the law was different then the outcome might have been different? Well if my aunt had balls and a d*ck she'd be my uncle. Its irrelevant what law the AHDB was set up under a gazillion years ago, or how it might have been set up if you'd got your way, what matters is the law as it stands today.

Which bit of 'People are fed up with having their pockets picked by an unelected and unaccountable quango' don't you understand?

Of course if the legislation were different the result would be different. A one man one vote system favours the smaller growers and a ballot based on levy size favours the bigger growers. Twenty seven years ago nobody trusted the Minister to make the final decision, so no difference there. In the end we had to take what the Minister was prepared to give. I have said, not just in this forum, that AHDB Potatoes need a real kicking. I have said on these pages that a smaller proportion of their income should come from the levy and a greater from subscription services. The management have been arrogant, dismissive of any criticism, they should go. The only thing where we differ is that the industry needs to retain a body to enable collective activity. That body should be made accountable. The BPC was subject to independent 5 year reviews, the 2004 review is still on line, it makes 82 pages of interesting reading, the benefit an independent review brings is any debate could then be based on fact rather than fiction.

White rabbit · Mar 22, 2021

Well thats what you get when you inspire farmers , they cannot even weight this vote because the no vote is a million pound more than the yes, of course they are now saying we still have to pay this coming year

Sonoftheheir · Mar 22, 2021

Ballot levy rejection is hot potato

Another NO vote

simon w · Mar 22, 2021

White rabbit said:
Well thats what you get when you inspire farmers , they cannot even weight this vote because the no vote is a million pound more than the yes, of course they are now saying we still have to pay this coming year

Hi white rabbit have you heard anything adout the potato ballot?

simon w · Mar 22, 2021

Sonoftheheir said:
Ballot levy rejection is hot potato

Another NO vote

Wow what wonderful news,well done to the petitioners who started the ball rolling without them we would still be shackled to this awful ahdb. Maybe they will wish they had treated me and many others with some better respect. Mr Saphir its time to change.

White rabbit · Mar 22, 2021

simon w said:
Hi white rabbit have you heard anything adout the potato ballot?

Simon 66% no unbelievable that will teach them to inspire farmers , and they Cannot weight it because the no vote was a million pounds more than yes

simon w · Mar 22, 2021

White rabbit said:
Simon 66% no unbelievable that will teach them to inspire farmers , and they Cannot weight it because the no vote was a million pounds more than yes

They could have had the decency to have put the results on the forum

An Gof · Mar 22, 2021

Well @White rabbit i applaud your tenacity and actually managing to defeat the machine.
Could you now take on RT for the rest of us please

White rabbit · Mar 22, 2021

Let’s hope saphir is now considering his position, he can take Ali capper and the rest of the freeloaders with him

An Gof said:
Well @White rabbit i applaud your tenacity and actually managing to defeat the machine.
Could you now take on RT for the rest of us please

an gof that’s taken two and a half years out of my life , not to mention £20,000 , I would love to to take on the RT but I am trying to run this outfit here, just shows how the establishment views us with how quickly Victoria prentis as come out with her comment it’s as so she wants to punish us.

Tarw Coch · Mar 22, 2021

White rabbit said:
Let’s hope saphir is now considering his position, he can take Ali capper and the rest of the freeloaders with him

an gof that’s taken two and a half years out of my life , not to mention £20,000 , I would love to to take on the RT but I am trying to run this outfit here, just shows how the establishment views us with how quickly Victoria prentis as come out with her comment it’s as so she wants to punish us.

What has she said?

Blood sucking ahdb

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