THE BETTER PART ...
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• Anybody who thinks that an eye for an eye is the best way to solve the 'lamb war' had better think again. British livestock hauliers may well be shellshocked after their treatment at the hands of French farmers, but adopting the same tactics in reverse won't solve anything. As if things weren't bad enough, we now have a French driver viciously attacked — not in France, but on the M2 in Kent.
So far the police have no idea why the attack took place. Let's hope it wasn't motivated by a tit for tat "if they're doing it to our drivers we'll do it to theirs" mentality. God only knows what that could lead to.
Let's hope that the police soon catch the three cowards who committed the assault, and that French driver Eric Gunther recovers swiftly.
After such an ordeal it would be asking a lot of him to remember that his assailants are not representative of the British public in general, and are certainly not supported by the road haulage industry. Whoever those mindless thugs were, we certainly don't want to know them. The only way the dispute will be solved will be for the French police to take the law firmly into their own hands, rather than letting the farmers hold it in theirs. After the trouble at Calais last week it looked as if the French authorities were finally getting tough with the farmers, but away from the urban areas it appears the opposite is true. British drivers are having to make mad dashes under cover of darkness to avoid trouble.
If the French police can't guarantee safe passage then maybe its time for the British Government to provide financial support to the livestock producers and hauliers so they can halt the carriage of lamb to France long enough for the French to calm their farmers down. Let there be no mistake, the only reason British hauliers are sending vehicles into France is for the money.
The matter has gone beyond principles: it's time to prevent British drivers being seriously injured or killed. It's time for the Government to pay for a little discretion rather than watch someone else's valour.