Thread by @GeorgeMonbiot

This is massive, and horrific. @NFUtweets is secretly lobbying the government to allow #neonicotinoid pesticides to be reintroduced after Brexit.
It tells its members: "Please refrain from sharing this on social media."
On the contrary, please RT.
campaigns.nfuonline.com/page/72051/pet…

Here's the letter it sent to sugar beet growers across the UK. The link seems to be members-only. It is closed to the public, for obvious reasons.

In public, the National Farmers Union claims to be defending our food and farming standards from a US trade deal. In private, it's secretly using Brexit as an opportunity to undermine them.

Neonicotinoids are banned by the EU because they're lethal to the living world.
This is just how we feared Brexit would be used.
Please share this thread.
@vickihird @guyshrubsole @MilesKing10 @ChrisGPackham @dpcarrington @DaveGoulson @MattEAShardlow @Buzz_dont_tweet

Meanwhile, here's the PR the NFU produces for public consumption.

Please note that the NFU believes its petition "will have a stronger impact on the Secretary of State if kept out of the public domain".
It seeks to stitch us up behind closed doors.
Democracy relies on transparency.
So please spread this far and wide.

I know that plenty of good farmers will be as horrified by this as I am. Please tell @NFUtweets that it doesn't speak for you on this issue.

Just as her organisation is exposed as undermining democracy through secretive and dirty lobbying, the BBC is about to feature its president, @Minette_Batters, on #DesertIslandDiscs. Why is a corporate lobbyist being treated as a national treasure?

It's a classic example of Chomsky's propaganda model. The media respectabilises the voices of capital, making them seem cuddly and friendly, even as they trash the living world and harm our lives.

Hashtag for this scandal: #PleaseRefrain

Apparently, the name of the man in charge of this secretive, deceitful lobbying is, er, no, come on, they're making this up.

Even worse than the #DesertIslandDiscs decision, @BBCWomansHour put @Minette_Batters, lobbyist against the living world, on its Power List of "30 inspiring women whose work is making a significant positive contribution to the environment and the sustainability of our planet."

This reveals a profound misunderstanding of what @NFUtweets is and what it does. It is the driving force behind the badger cull, and the holding down of environmental standards. This week's leak is simply a rare public insight into its routine lobbying behind closed doors.

DEFRA (the environment department) is based at 17 Smith Square, London SW1. The NFU's offices are at 16 Smith Square, London SW1. Why do you think that might be?
DEFRA = Doing Everything Farmers' Representatives Ask.

The only time DEFRA stood up to the NFU in recent years was, paradoxically, when Michael Gove was in charge. The NFU went ballistic about its God-given right to shape government policy being temporarily rescinded.

In public, Minette's organisation talks a good line about protecting farm standards. But when you look for details, you find they're pretty vague. In private, as we've just seen, it demands specific and highly damaging deregulation. It is two-faced and, well, sly.