Reply to: Should the UK pursue self sufficiency for environmental and security reasons?

[vetran]

Ohh Wiki suggests an alternative view- think we should resurrect this part though

There is a difference between self sufficient and suffering a famine. They aren't mutually exclusive. Famines are frequently due to external factors e.g. Potato blight.

[DonaldJTrump]

Apparently the uk was self sufficient in 1850, having starved millions to death in the Irish potato famine.

Ohh Wiki suggests an alternative view- think we should resurrect this part though

it had become illegal to give poor people aid

Improvements in agricultural technology, transportation, and the wider economy meant that for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, severe hunger receded as a problem within the United Kingdom. An exception occurred in the 1840s. Known as the Hungry Forties, various problems affecting food production resulted in millions suffering from hunger all over Europe. In the early 1840s the UK was relatively less affected than the rest of Europe. Yet thousands of working-class people still starved to death, including in England, Scotland and Wales, in part as it had become illegal to give poor people aid.

In Ireland, which was part of the UK at the time, the Great Famine struck in 1845, and close to a million died of hunger and related disease

[vetran]

Aye bring back snook and Woolton pie, it'll put hairs on our chests.

Apparently the uk was self sufficient in 1850, having starved millions to death in the Irish potato famine.

The population at the time was 17.9 million.

Now it's 66.6 million.

Possibly its been missed by all the Europhiles and Xenophiles but when the going got tough the countries got a banning. Food security would mean we are less open to blackmail.

100% including all variety is probably impossible but as some people have mentioned we were 80% self sufficient 40 years ago yet are 20% less now. 80-90% with diverse imports and food exports would be a good position.

The Netherlands is clearly capable of growing crops in quantity in a similar climate and country. We just need the will.

[_V_]

Which reminds me.

https://www.ft.com/content/ba5aac70-...2-afd7d570f7c7

UK ministers are scrapping a flagship £1.5bn environmental initiative launched only last year to upgrade England’s homes with better insulation and low carbon heating, following problems with its administration.

Can this Tory scum deliver ANYTHING of value?

[_V_]

There's a huge amount of work needed to bring all that back 'in house'. I really think an minister for onshoring UK industry should be appointed to to find out what investment is needed, what incentives are needed, and get started with some small scale projects to test out ideas.
.

How about Boris nominates Knut Knut for the role? Could pay her say £20m p.a. and maybe bung in £60bn tax payers, to a company she sets up in the Cayman islands for admin work?

I'm sure the Tory faithful would be pleased.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Wartime 3000 daily calorie count should do it, bonus cure diabetes type 2

Aye bring back snook and Woolton pie, it'll put hairs on our chests.

Apparently the uk was self sufficient in 1850, having starved millions to death in the Irish potato famine.

The population at the time was 17.9 million.

Now it's 66.6 million.

[DonaldJTrump]

Might have to go heavy on Yorkshire tea and pudding diet, plus Cornish peeled spuds - if that’s the price of freedom

Wartime 3000 daily calorie count should do it, bonus cure diabetes type 2

[BlasterBates]

Did you even read what I wrote?

Indeed just pointing out that the EU has already achieved what you're striving for, and the UK trying to do the same in miniature is a pointless exercise. I can see why the debate arose as the UK looks quite weak on its own. Why not buy your clothes from the EU. The world is awash with clothing, the notion of the UK building up a heavily subsidised clothing industry is rather pointless. I would focus more on fishing.

[AtW]

Might have to go heavy on Yorkshire tea and pudding diet, plus Cornish peeled spuds - if that’s the price of freedom

[mattster]

Self-sufficient in food? Chortle! We haven't been that since 1860, so would have no chance!

That fact that we are not self sufficient in food doesn't mean we couldn't be - it just means we like to eat stuff from abroad, whether because of price (cheaper) or availability (more likely). Apparently we were nearly 80% self sufficient in food in the 80's, somewhere in the 60% range now. We wouldn't drink much tea or coffee, or eat much chocolate, but I imagine it is possible if we adjusted our diet to suit. As in, we probably wouldn't starve. Having said that, isn't there a tea plantation in Cornwall?

[OwlHoot]

In light of Vaccine wars, import & export issues etc should we aim to be mostly self sufficient growing enough food and technology that we need to import significantly less from corrupt regimes like China and the EU?

Fewer food miles, we know 7 year olds or slave labour aren't assembling our phones or trainers etc.

Self-sufficient in food? Chortle! We haven't been that since 1860, so would have no chance!

[vetran]

Did you even read what I wrote?

Blaster is just trying to prove EU will be self sufficient in manure from his postings as usual.

[ladymuck]

If you want an example of self-sufficiency, look no further than the EU, which is self-sufficient in all areas apart from oil and gas and certain raw materials, and there's not lot you can do about that. The US and China are also self sufficient. The UK is too small.

Did you even read what I wrote?

[DoctorStrangelove]

The EUSSR ain't exactly anywhere near self sufficient in semiconductors.

And the Septics had better buck their ideas up before the tulip hits the fan in Taiwan.

[BlasterBates]

Despite all the trolling on all sides, there is some merit to the idea of investing in a more self-sustainable future.

We will never be fully self sufficient, as there will always be a market for goods that we can't produce here, but there is a heck of a lot across all industries that has been lost in the drive towards becoming a service economy. The problem we have is that no-one wants to do the hard jobs. They don't pay enough, or the physical toll is too much, or they simply don't have the appeal of a nice, clean desk job.

The importing of all manner of goods has driven down prices such that the public would baulk at paying the real cost of them if they were produced in the UK according to our wage and employment laws. They don't care that a 7 year old is paid a penny a day and works 16 hours days, as long as they get the thing they want for the lowest price. UK consumers are not ethical consumers if it means they have to pay more. That, to me, is the biggest hurdle to overcome.

There's a huge amount of work needed to bring all that back 'in house'. I really think an minister for onshoring UK industry should be appointed to to find out what investment is needed, what incentives are needed, and get started with some small scale projects to test out ideas.

From a small acorn, a mighty oak may grow.

If you want an example of self-sufficiency, look no further than the EU, which is self-sufficient in all areas apart from oil and gas and certain raw materials, and there's not lot you can do about that. The US and China are also self sufficient. The UK is too small.