So glyphosate has gained a reprieve from the inertia of the EU’s politicians, with an 18-month licence extension now granted.

This is far from the end of a story which acts as a reminder of how convoluted the political process in Europe can be.

Before the Brexiteers claim it as vindication, however, it should be highlighted that it was the politicians of the member state governments and their civil servants who created this logjam, and it was the so-called “unelected elite” of the European Commission, in the shape of Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, who moved to tackle the situation.

Among the recommendations he made were that pre-harvest use of glyphosate be minimised.

Will this include its application on grassland prior to cutting for silage? I think it might, you know.

Meanwhile, the ECHA, the EU’s agency for chemical products, will undertake a scientific assessment on the carcinogenicity of glyphosate that will inform what will happen when this licence extension expires at the end of 2017.

Another of the proposals was that glyphosate not be used in parks and playgrounds. I understand that in the Netherlands this is already the case. What do they use to control weeds instead? A blowtorch.