So under a Mandelson-inspired EU diktat we won't be allowed to enjoy the delights of Anchor Butter any longer. Following a complaint from the Germans Mandelson has banned it pending a hearing in 28 days time. New Zealand suppliers are naturally hopping mad that an arbitrary decision by a politician can break legally binding contracts which it has entered into with its customers. What a wanchor. Hattip for graphic to TheoSpark.
49 comments:
no bad thing. Why are we so keen to buy imported frozen butter from New Zealand.
Have we not cows in Britain?
Total prat. Where will it end? Some lightweight half-witted spin merchant-cum-politician
will be telling us to ban chocolate oranges next! ;-)
Now children.
We'll have none of those nasty little remarks about hot butter and Brazilian leap-frog, please.
Under a Mandelson inspired EU diktat? Get a grip.
He acted to enforce the ruling of the European Court. You do believe in the rule of law don't you?
If you don't think he should enforce the rulings of the court at least be honest enough to say you want us out of the EU.
If you want to have a free market in butter then so do I. That means ending the billions of pounds we pour into the pockets of landowners (aka farmers) in Britain. How about writing soemthing about how we should pull the plug on that?
You do believe in the rule of law don't you?
Only when that law is the product of our own evolved common law. Otherwise I don't see that it has any legitimacy other than the threat of violence.
if he was in "last Tango in Paris" did he have a "bit" part
Well, that's the brand my family use. I would very much like to hear any argument that can persuade me why we should no longer be permitted to enjoy this product. And no, I do not blindly believe in the rule of law. This is another example of why that is the case.
"If you don't think he should enforce the rulings of the court at least be honest enough to say you want us out of the EU."
I want us out of the EU now that Cameron has shown that reform of the EU is impossible. He can't even deliver his "weeks, not months" pledge regarding the EPP.
Also reform of the EU should address corruption, yet poor old Roger Helmer has been punished for trying to expose corruption.
Iain, do you have a source you could point us towards for this story?
Ta :)
...at least be honest enough to say you want us out of the EU.
Yes, that get's my vote....
James, several national newspapers.
Your story is obviously and checkably wrong, even from the Daily Telegraph story. It's clear that within the rules of the EU Mandelson had no choice; has imposed a temporary suspension whilst challenging the court decision; and hopes to see the NZ imports resumed as quickly as possible.
If you are willing to indulge in this level of spin on a story I can check easily, why should I trust anything else you post on this web site?
Bet it was the German Greenies.
The whole philosophy of the EU Health Fascists/5 portions-a-day mob is suddenly laid bare - and this is merely the start.
Butter is bad for you - according to them, anyway. Ban non-EU imports and use the CAP to cock up local suppliers. Step up the propaganda for 'healthy' alternatives. Criminalise purveyors of saturated fats. Won't be long before serving up a chip buttie will result in a charge of Grevious Bodily Harm.
Butterflies are exterminated in the ensuing pogrom, butterscotch is re-classified as a pharmaceutical product available only with a prescription. NuLab luvvies contribute to "The Low-Fat Yoghurt Carole Chaplin Memorial Cookbook". Butterleggers will proliferate, clandestine creameries spring up in remote locations....
"Watch the wall, my darlings, while the Lurpak-man goes by."
Bastards.
Tim, why is it that he had to ban imports immediately rather than wait for 28 days? If he doesn't have the discretion as the Trade Commissioner, you wonder what the point of him is. And as for your final point, feel free to make your own judgement. I don't pretend to be the BBC.
I thought the very clever and wonderful Theo might have run up an image of Mandelson and butter based on the Last Tango in Paris scene - but then it probably best he didn't...
Anonymous said...
"no bad thing. Why are we so keen to buy imported frozen butter from"
Because...
1 It tastes good, probably because:
2 Their cows eat fresh grass all year round.
3 It's excellent value
4 The Kiwis are our friends and indeed our own kith & kin
Got it?
Iaian Dale wrote 'why is it that he had to ban imports immediately rather than wait for 28 days? If he doesn't have the discretion as the Trade Commissioner, you wonder what the point of him is.'
A glance at Guido offers a butter perspective Mandy might want bringing forward; after all, Tony tried to heave him overboard twice, and sent him to Europe when he was kept out himself by Prodi. By the way, Prodi's second victory over Blair's friend Berlusconi is having an effect like the tide receding on the berlusconi/blair/aznour/bush years. Brush up your Italian.
A more objective piece of coverage would be looking at why the Germans are taking action; might it have something to do with New Zealand producers dumping butter on the EU market and breaking trade agreements?
I am no defender of the Labour party's many misdeeds and maliciousness - see my website - but I don't leap to the conclusion as some of the Telegraph readers on here that anything and everything the likes of Mandleson and Prescott do is fundamentally wrong or corrupt.
Anon 12.57 (or should I call you "Class Warrior")
" That means ending the billions of pounds we pour into the pockets of landowners (aka farmers) in Britain. How about writing something about how we should pull the plug on that?"
I should much prefer talking about ending the billions of pounds we pour into the pockets of landowners (aka farmers) in the European Union through CAP. Oh, but I forgot. French and German farmers are good socialists, so they should be allowed to keep our money.
I believe in the rule of our Common Law. Nothing else has any legitimacy in our country.
Yes, Dave should stop faffing about and announce that we are leaving the vile EUSSR.
New Zealand butter is delicious. I think it must be the quality of the grass (well, obviously). Anchor is good, but the best butter in the entire world is New Zealand's Fern.
...that anything and everything the likes of Mandleson and Prescott do is fundamentally wrong or corrupt.
Yes, but it is a good guess and usually turns out to be right.
I believe in the rule of our Common Law. Nothing else has any legitimacy in our country.
Er, you don't think that statutes are in any way legitimate then Verity?
"Anchor is good, but the best butter in the entire world is New Zealand's Fern."
Verity - yes indeed, I agree, but don't remember seeing it for years. If still sold here, presumably this is to be banned also?
Surprised to see such a Kiwi love-in here. Haven’t they got a filthy Labour Government too?
Ghost of humphrey the cat says --
Ban double cream and there will be hell to pay!
http://ghostofhumphrey.blogspot.com
A blog by the Ex Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. Miaowings about life in Britain. eg. political scandals, z list celebrities, overpaid footballers, binge drinking, business fat cats, chavs, illegal immigrants etc..
Way back in the mists of time (1973), I thought that negotiations on our entry into the then had EEC guaranteed "our friends in the pacific" - and there WAS genuine concern about Aust and NZ then, that they would continue to have access to their traditional markets in the UK for their traditional goods. Wasn't this even in our treaty documents?
Oddly enough there's no mention of banning chicken imports from Brazil - where annimal welfare concerns really should kick in.
The Kiwis must think laterally.
The Euros are very big on surrendering to terrorists and kidnappers.
So the New Zealand Butter Marketing Board members should arrange for Mandy's Brazilian boyfriend to be kidnapped and tickled ruthlessly until the ban is lfted.
Of course, what Iain's Amazing Gossip Fountain has missed on this occasion is that Mandy's boyfriend is the front man for Brazilian 'Big Dairy', who are rumoured to have bribed Mandy to clamp down on the Kiwis, so that the Brazilians can flood the market with their own butter...
As for all the trolls on this comment thread, with their blathering about the rule of law: the EU HAS no rule of law, as this episode demonstrates.
It is no less arbitrary than the France of Louis XIV. The 'laws' made up on the fly by EU bureaucrats have no more legitimacy than 'laws' proclaimed from my balcony by me! Except that in the Alice-in-Wonderland state that we now live in, the Government acts to enforce them.
Luckily, now that the Tory A-List people are starting to get selected, a new political dawn will soon break in England, and these fresh new guys n gals will stand up for what is right, because they will be much more independent than the tired old hacks of the past. So we can expect to see some effective opposition to the EU & Nu-Lab madness at last...
(Why do I even bother to type this? I am sure Iain will delete it)
See NZ story at:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=193&objectid=10391389
And yes, we have a filthy labour Govt too. 3 police investigations in past 12 months have found prima facie evidence of croimes, but police have declined to prosecute as not being in the public interest.
One national police force and the PM appoints the head.
Oh, NZ gets preferred access 'cos you knew you were screwing us going into the EU ... but actually felt bad enough about it to mitigate. Quite thoughtful really, ta. Bit of a payback for that awful mix up in the Dardanelles.
Thanks for the pointer, Iain. I looked at the Telegraph's coverage (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/16/nbutter16.xml) of the story online- newspapers are something normally confined to the generation previous to mine ;)
People who talk about 'respect for the rule of law' and so on should be careful. From my perspective, I prefer to respect the legitimacy of law, as such. It can be subjective, but there are still benchmarks for it.
'Respect for the rule of law' is an emotional hammer which authoritarians and totalitarians use to beat their enemies with.
In this instance, I think most people are highlighting the stupidity of the bureaucracy that's put us in this position.
Like other here, I still feel an affinity to our family and friends in the Anglosphere. I deplore the way they have been treated since we joined the EEC- it's about time we made some attempt to put things right by defending their/ our interests.
The only reason Anchor butter was allowed into the country, was due to the re-negotation of eec terms back in 74/75 by Wilson. Traitor Heath had betrayed the Kiwis.
Let them eat Lurpak.
" now that the Tory A-List people are starting to get selected, a new political dawn will soon break in England,"
Where was the link to the soundtrack rendition of Niggas Wiv Attitude singing 'Jerusalem'?
Personally i always thought 'Anchor |butter' was cokney slang for one of Peter Mandelson's parents.. No Zinadine, stop butting me!!!!
I seem to recall that when Argentina invaded the Falklands on 1983, the then New Zealand Government were the first to offer us practical support in the form of one of their frigates to free up an RN frigate for use elsewhere ( http://www.navy.mil.nz/know-your-navy/history/post-war-tasks.htm ). That was very generous given that they only have about three frigates.
For me that is reason enough to tell the EUSSR where to get off.
Butter in its so-called "spreadable" form which seems to dominate the market, is now a largely degraded product (President & Kerrygold brands notably apart), usually containing around 40% vegetable oil, or margarine as we used to call it - but you need to read the packaging very carefully to realise this and notice they don't actually describe it as butter because they aint allowed to!
The cheek is that they rip-off the consumer by pricing it at the same level as the real thing produced entirely by real cows.
EU laws, directives, diktats and whatever have no legitimacy in Britain because the British people were never asked whether they agreed to surrender their freedom.
It's a load of bollocks. (And the carpeted corridors of power and five star restaurants are populated by sleazes like Peter Mandelson. Lounge lizards and scrubbers, burrowing in like weevils.) I hate them.
I've long been an buyer of Anchor, but recently switched to Lurpak because of the 'events' in Denmark. However, given that the parent company has been paying the Dhimmi tax in the Middle East, I'm back on Anchor.
Hurrah for our kin in the Antipodes, save for when they beat us at rugby, cricket etc etc.
Butter is natural product which your body can absorb. Margarine is an artificial one which is made up of fats which your body cannot...but it has a fat element of profit as it is manufactured rather than produced naturally.
Mandelson is carrying out economic warfare, nothing else. On behalf of Europeans against our own NZ cousins.
bollocks to The EU.
They dictate the shoes we can wear, and now the butter we can eat.
When will they ban bent bananas as an insult to NuLab?
How about crosses as being unbearable, cross roads in case of angry drivers.
they should bugger off and find something usefull to do, but that would be impossible for a bunch of has-been or un-electable politicos.
The EU is a classic example of too many chiefs.
Croydonian - I too switched from NZ butter to Lurpak in support of the Danes. I too was disappointed that they were paying the dhimmitax in the ME. I do realise, though, that they are a cooperative, not a company, and they need to sell their members' products.
However, Lurpak is not as delish as NZ butter, so I've switched back. Also, as many have said, the New Zealanders are our kith and kin.
PCF - Zionist, yup, guilty as charged. Not sure about rabid though.
Not sure where you heard that the cartoonists were Jewish, but having looked at the Jyllands Posten page capture on the Wikipedia site the names of the cartoonists all look pretty 'Danish' to me.
Naturally one might be of the House of Judah and have a name like Westergaard or Sorensen rather than Goldstein or Levin, but it is worth noting that all of the names are conventionally 'Danish'.
Furthermore, I haven't seen any coverage suggesting that any, still less all the cartoonists were Jewish. Feel free to correct me.
(I hope our host will forgive the sidetrack)
Ian,
Butter wouldn't melt in your mouth. You surely mean the EU bans butter.
But then Cameron has forbidden any mention of this and as you are a loyal servant I guess this is par for the course
That bastard. Doesn't he know that we (NZ) were, until a few decades ago, the most loyal dominion of all in the Empire? We fought our arses off for Britain in Turkey and the Middle East in WWI, and North Africa and Italy in WWII - the least he can do is let our bloody butter in!
Anon, above..
We know it, we know it and we won't forget it.
by a "politician" can break legally binding contracts which it has entered into with its customers.
UNELECTED Politician!
Today I managed to buy 2 packs of Anchor butter, so up your's Mandy!
Banning butter?
I can't believe it's not Mandelson.
The ban's been lifted.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10391972
whether banned or not, the problem is that the European "government" can't organise a (Hmmm) celebration!! in a brewery. they just have to interfere in everything in order to demonstrate that they are doing something. the best way out is for the British people to follow myself and many others in refusing to buy anything that says "Made in the EU" or anything marked as made in a Euro country. Also, to call the EU by its original name - Fortress Europa! A rose by any other name.....
Until I started reading letters in newspapers I didn't even realise there was a ban. I have been buying Anchor without let or hindrence at my local supermarket. Indeed when I asked them, they knew nothing. However I may have started some panic buying amongst the staff.
I think it is shameful that the EU supported by Mandy is seeking to ban ANYTHING from the Commonwealth. Any part of the Commonwealth. I know the arguments about food miles and I do my bit to support local produce when it's in season; but a lot of growers in the Commonwealth are small farmers and need our support.
So I will continue to buy my butter from New Zealand (Jazz apples from NZ are pretty good too, once all the cox apples are gone) my bananas from Dominica and the Windward Islands, my wine from Australia and the EU politicos can get stuffed.
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