Whitehall turf war saves cows' hides

'The theory goes like this: if you have less ruminant livestock, you emit less climate-damaging methane into the atmosphere. You also have less meat to eat, which means less saturated fat in our diets and thus less heart disease.'

Somebody mentioned this issue to me - quite interesting. A report part-funded by the Department of Health came up with the idea to kill 30% of Britain's cows and sheep.

'Defra officials gently pointed out that perhaps the "kill-a-cow, save-the-world" policy might have a few flaws. First, the farming community would be a tad unhappy. And sure enough the National Farmers' Union was apoplectic, raging at the "ill-informed and simplistic report", condemning ministers for their "poor judgement". Second, cutting livestock in this country will not mean people eat less meat. We will just import more from places like Brazil and Argentina, who will cut down more rainforest to satisfy this lucrative extra demand from Europe. Third, how exactly was the government going to go about culling 30% of Britain's ruminant livestock?'

Quotes are from James Landale , Deputy political editor, BBC News, Wed 25 Nov