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Midday Rant - Who’s Killing Daffodils?

Updated: Jun 6, 2023

by Bill White


[Transcript]


Here’s a mystery for you... More than 1,000 daffodils have been cut down or pulled up after they had been planted by the residents of Saint Blazey, a small English village of around 4,600 people midway down the Cornish coast.


The local town council has denied cutting down the flowers. In fact, Town clerk Gaynor Mamo said “if daffodils had been cut down” it was nothing to do with the local authority. IF? The flowers are laying dead on the ground where they once grew… Regardless, that’s her story and she’s sticking to it.


However, the council did confirm that it will not be replanting the bulbs “for health and safety reasons”. What? Health and safety reasons? Are daffodils now a dangerous breed… of flower?


The story gets worse, Dr Mark Evans, from the Southwest Health Protection Unit, has chimed in saying: “Daffodils are toxic and severe vomiting and diarrhoea can occur if eaten by mistake. “Although very unpleasant,” he continued, “most people will recover fully without treatment.” Apparently, if you intend to eat the flowers, you’re good to go.


The Southwest Health Protection Unit is charged with and I’m quoting now, "Ensuring the safety and quality of food, water, air, and the general environment. Preventing the transmission of communicable diseases. Managing outbreaks and the other incidents which threaten the public health." Well, we can now add to that list of important objects, protecting us all from dangerous flowers.


Are you asking yourself how did we get here? How is it that government employees feel they’re entitled to protect us from flowers? Let me tell you, this is what happens when you encourage the Nanny State. A myriad of bureaucrats, each one with just enough authority to satisfy their appetite for power and their need for control over others, combined with far too much money in their budgets, paid by taxpayers, who have somehow forgotten that they’re paying for the abuse the government wields.


Well, in this case, I am calling on EVERY resident of Saint Blazey to plant daffodils. Plant daffodils in your front garden, in your back garden, and fill planters if your estate is small… fill every available space. And for all the fact-checkers out there, while daffodil farming has declined in some areas, the UK still produces 90% of the world's cut daffodils and exports to Europe and the United States; in fact, 80% of these daffodils are grown in Cornwall and yet, for some unknown reason the authorities in Saint Blazey are out to rid the Community of this dangerous flower.


But after all that, we’re still no closer to knowing who killed these daffodils. Is there some mad person on the loose in Saint Blazey whacking flowers off at their stem in the middle of the night? Or is the council involved in a coverup? Does the culprit have plans to continue their war on flowers?


This is a serious subject, indeed, are other genera of plants safe?


I think a public inquiry is needed.


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