I WAS travelling towards Chester when news came on the radio that Bernard Matthews was to receive almost £600,000 compensation in the wake of its bird flu outbreak.
I was speechless! It was one of those moments you will never forget and, in years to come, know exactly where you were when it happened.
Some 159,000 turkeys were culled at Bernard Matthews’ Suffolk farm to prevent the H5N1 virus spreading.
The firm will get £3-£4 for each bird, depending on their age, from Defra.
How on earth can any government give compensation to a company for keeping their birds in filthy, leaky, rodent-infested sheds, with gulls feeding on scrap meat and loose polythene bags containing waste meat liquid?
It beggars belief!
But then governments are there to protect the interests of rich companies like Bernard Mathews, and the poor ignorant public are the ones forced to foot the bill when things go wrong.
But for what? Nearly being poisoned with bird flu. It's madness!
Surely Bernard Matthews should have been charged with endangering the lives of countless people and cruelty to birds? But no - we reward the company instead!
Completely bonkers!
So let’s look at what's happening here! Government is effectively being held to ransom by factory farmers because if they don't give them compensation, affected producers would be afraid to notify the authorities of any outbreak for fear of losing business.
Hell, if the human race manages to survive the next 1,000 years, I imagine future generations will look upon our time and shake their heads in disbelief.
