City squires get farm aid for paddocks

[Mark]

Following Mark R's rant on the overwhelming need for a class analysis of
ecological imperative, read the following news report from over a week ago
(29 July). Thanks to Massimo and Mark Barrett for drawing attention to it:


City squires get farm aid for paddocks
Times Online

 CITY workers with second homes in the country are getting European
Union farming subsidies worth millions of pounds a year to pay for
tending their private grounds and paddocks.

The right to claim the EU payment is being bought by the second-home
owners from professional farmers who were being paid it for keeping
their land free from weeds and as habitats for wildlife.

According to figures released by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) this
weekend, an estimated 30,000 owners of small parcels of land in
England are enjoying subsidies worth 30m a year from Brussels.

And the rest of the article's at:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2159342.ece