DEAR SIR:

I have never seen such a pathetic excuse as Marian Harkin’s letter, Irish Farmers Journal, 4 November, in which she tries to justify her stance on glyphosate/Roundup in the recent vote in the European Parliament. There is a responsibility on her and others who have been elected to office to inform themselves objectively and fully on the issues put before them for voting. She has done neither of these things.

Firstly, the WHO report on glyphosate did not find any basis to say it was “probably carcinogenic”. What it found was that one adjuvant used in one formulation of glyphosate, called Roundup Gold, was “probably carcinogenic”. That formulation was only on the market for a few seasons and was withdrawn as soon as the finding was known. Secondly, Ms Harkin should be very well aware that the other agencies she refers to, European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemical Authority, have a remit that goes well beyond examining any product for just carcinogens, which is why they spent three years in total considering their results. Also, these are agencies of the European Union. She is a member of the European Union’s Parliament, so she is clearly stating she has no confidence in her own institutions, neither of them. She claims they don’t have the resources to carry out their own independent studies. Surely that’s more her fault than ours. However, they have signed off on the results and put their scientific credentials on the line. We, as farmers, have no option but to depend on those credentials. If decisions of this magnitude are being made by the “feeling to use the precautionary principle” of MEPs, such as Ms Harkin, then it’s time to fold up shop and remove our food production base into a regime with some base of certainty.

Farmers have been using glyphosate for over 40 years. Its introduction heralded a new era in controlling grass weeds, especially rhizomes. These were, and still are, the greatest yield restrictor in our fields. We could not be feeding Ms Harkin or the millions of her fellow Europeans without this development. To this day, scientists continue to say that it is one of the safest products we use. I don’t like Monsanto any more than Ms Harkin does and maybe even less, but cereal farming in Europe will not keep her constituents fed without glyphosate.

What does she intend to do about the millions of tonnes of foodstuffs imported into the EU every day from countries where her ban will not be implemented? I’m talking about foodstuffs which depend on glyphosate at least as much as anything produced within the EU – tea, coffee, sugar, flour, breakfast cereal, tropical fruits, nuts, wine etc. The list is almost endless. Perhaps, it will be a case that because we can’t see it being used, it’ll be OK. Perhaps we should ask our MEPs for their “feelings” on what we should or should not import!

If ever there was a case to restrict the powers of the European Parliament, this is it. A policy which is decided on “feelings” rather than on science. Supported by MEPs because “ everyone else is doing it” rather than full and objective research of the facts and implications affecting an entire continent.

What we have witnessed here is Halloween politics – “I’m afraid to do anything in case there’s a boogeyman around the corner.”

This wasn’t how the EU was founded. This type of leadership didn’t lift a continent out of the ashes of the greatest conflict the planet has ever seen. I don’t want these pathetic excuses from any politician. The entire future of the EU depends on better leadership than this.