The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has spotted an opportunity for the countryside, and so has Dame Helen Ghosh, Director General of the National Trust. Both have noticed that, with Brexit, the money dispensed to farmers through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is now up for grabs. Think what it could mean for the environment if this were spent differently.

Farmers might not like it - but they only have themselves to blame. One of the mysteries of Brexit is the number of farmers who appear to have voted for it – 58 per cent according to one poll. Their industry receives over £3 billion in single farm payment from the Common Agricultural Policy each year. These people ought to know something about turkeys and their relationship to Christmas, not to mention the biting of hands that feed, the Leave campaign’s promise to maintain subsidy levels at least in the short-term notwithstanding. Clearly the CAP didn’t work, even for the clients it was supposed to benefit.