There can be no doubt that few things are more essential to our everyday lives than food.

Unfortunately not enough people are asking themselves whether they can trust the food they eat. The politicians and food industry spokesmen tell us that the chemicals, growth hormones, additives and antibiotics the food industry insists on adulterating our food with is both “essential” and “good for us”! In addition, those who campaign for wholesome food and especially against GM products, are ridiculed as being “misinformed” or “backward looking”!

The British National Party believes the road ahead is for a return to unadulterated organic food, food we can trust. In particular we want a GM-free Britain and a return to proven organic production methods as far as is practically posible. During the last decade the quantity of organic food produced in Europe has gone up five fold, so clearly there is a demand for real food in this country of ours. Unfortunately the Government has done little to encourage British producers to expand organic production �“ this despite our country having one of the largest markets for organic produce in the Western World. It is a sad fact that less than half of the organic food we eat is actually homegrown. The British National Party will promote real food over the processed and adulterated variety, and encourage food producers to meet the resulting growing demand for real food, at an affordable price to the consumer.

Furthermore, British Nationalists advocate proper and prominent labelling on food packaging. We believe the consumer has a right to know what they are being sold, so that they are better equipped to decide for themselves whether they want to buy it.

In addition, as part of our drive for a return to real food, British Nationalists advocate a major expansion in the provision of the traditional allotment �“ this being a facility that has served both families and communities well for many decades.

British Nationalists also believe that the British public, by and large, care - as we do - about the treatment of animals. We believe that farm animals have a right not to suffer, and our stand against intensive factory production lines promotes respect and compassion in farming. Furthermore, British Nationalists, unlike the so-called “Green” Party, are opposed to the most prolific form of animal cruelty practised in Britain today �“ that of the cruel and barbaric slow-death ritual slaughter of millions of our farm animals every year - for no other reason than to appease the theological dogma of certain religious groups.

The British National Party believes in local family owned shops selling the wholesome produce of local family owned farms and allotments, at affordable prices, to local people.

Hence our stance that as far as is possible food should be grown locally, for sale in local shops and markets, to local people. We see little value in chemically grown produce that has been transported thousands of polluting miles to reach the consumer - it’s time to rediscover real food and to refocus our farming industry into fulfilling that need.

Land & People reported earlier this year that a search for new homes for more than 65,000 birds has begun as part of a study into building a Severn barrage. A Government spokesman has now announced a feasibility study into the barrage to establish whether the benefits would outweigh the costs. It is claimed that a tidal barrage across the Severn Estuary would have the “breathtaking” potential to provide almost 5% of Britain’s electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly. In operation the proposed barrage would operate like a hydroelectric dam to generate electricity, with the water being pushed in by the tide. The Barrage proposed would stretch 10 miles from Lavernock Point west of Cardiff to near Brean Down in Somerset, impounding an area of 185 square miles.

The downside is that the barrage, which is estimated to cost £15 billion, would destroy large stretches of mud-flats, saltmarshes and other habitats vital to wetland birds that spend the winter in Britain. Presently the estuary is home to some of the most valuable bird habitats in Europe �“ attracting species such as Bewick’s swan, pintail duck, shelduck, dunlin, redshank and, at risk of extinction in Britain, the curlew.

The estuary is also an important environment for fish such as lampreys, salmon, sea trout and eels. Any barrage could potentially block their migratory routes along the Severn. The study, which will take some two years to complete, will assess the cost of providing alternative areas of wetlands and the chances of finding suitable land.

It is claimed that more than 65,000 wetland birds are attracted each winter to sites that would be affected and they would need to be found alternative areas. To make matters worse saltmarshes, like those in the Severn estuary, are among the rarest types of habitat to be found in the British Isles. Similar work has taken place in parts of Essex, also as previously reported on by Land & People, but there remain doubts about how easy it would be for important fish species to transfer to restored areas.

Understandably ornithologists have considerable reservations about the Severn barrage proposal and a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, recently said that the Government needed “to think long and hard” before committing itself. He said: “Supporting this scheme to the tune of £15 billion would not leave much spare change for alternative projects should it fail to deliver, so the Government has to be sure it is the right place to risk so much taxpayers’ money.”

The attraction of the Severn estuary, in terms of energy generation, is because it has the second-largest tidal range in the world �“ the difference between the highest and lowest tides is up to 42ft (14m).

It is further stated that the feasibility study would be followed by public consultations if it were felt that the project should go ahead �“ a questionable eventuality considering recent legislative proposals to ignore such consultation where the “national interest” is said to be in question!

In addition the feasibly study will look at several options, including the biggest proposal - for a barrage between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare and will consider tidal lagoons.

According to the politicians and their friends in the energy and construction industries, the barrage is needed to meet the growing energy requirements of the nation. Surely, we suggest, a far cheaper and less environmentally destructive solution would be to curtail energy demand growth by simply halting immigration into our overpopulated land? And could not significant savings be made in existing energy demand through deporting the one million or so, illegal consumers currently squatting in our country �“ people having neither moral nor legal right to be here in the first place?

It is reported that another two more of Britain’s regularly nesting birds are heading towards extinction. In the latest revision of Bird Life International’s “Red List’” the curlew and the Dartford warbler have been listed as “Near Threatened” - which is a classification only one step below those species facing global extinction.

The latest additions swell the numbers of nesting “Near Threatened” birds in Britain to five; joining the red kite, corncrake and black-tailed godwit on the list of endangered bird species.

In Britain the curlew, although still widespread, is a rapidly-declining species in many areas. Meanwhile the Dartford warbler, a largely heathland bird, is said to be expanding its range rapidly from the southern counties of England, largely because of heathland conservation, restoration programmes and milder winters. But the news is not so good for the warbler - which is declining rapidly in other parts of its European range, meaning Britain’s population of this species is of greater global significance.

The latest assessments are based on the population declines of both birds across their global ranges. The curlew is generally found across a belt of central and northern Europe and Asia, while 90% of the Dartford warbler is found in southern and western Europe.

In Britain, curlew numbers have fallen by 53% between 1970 and 2005, and by 37% between 1994 and 2006. It is believed that around 30% of the western European curlew population nests in Britain. The global population is suspected to have fallen by around 25% in the past 15 years.

BirdLife International estimates that the Dartford warbler may have declined in Europe by as much as 40% over the last decade. In its Spanish heartland, the warbler decreased by nearly six per cent per year between 1998 and 2006. Although, in Briton, the Dartford warbler has extended its range and increased its population to a total of 3209 territories in 2006.

Globally, the majority of species on the Red List are confined to islands or have very small ranges, perhaps limited by available habitat.

A RSPB scientist, recently claimed: “Since 1600 only two species of European bird - the great auk and the Canarian black oystercatcher - have become globally extinct. But the inclusion of widespread and familiar species like the curlew and the Dartford warbler to the list of birds facing trouble is deeply concerning and a warning that we will lose more species without urgent action. It is a sign that more and more birds are unable to cope with the fundamental changes, like habitat destruction and climate change that we are wreaking on our continent and the planet. Currently, 50 out of Europe’s 540 bird species are on a path towards extinction. We now need more urgent action to prevent some of our once-familiar birds from joining the great auk in the extinction ledger.”