Madam, I see that the local prospective Conservative MEP, Anthea McIntyre, is advocating resistance to the forthcoming ban on pesticides. Why?

I hope that she has not eaten any (non organic) grapes recently from any of the 18 major food retailers across Europe whose grapes have been found to contain unsafe pesticides, with an average of seven different types on each grape and one third classified as 'Not Recommended for consumers due to critical levels of pesticide'. She might do better to encourage consumers to pay a proper price for food in the first place instead of encouraging the time bomb of deadly illnesses further down the line.

Organic farmers manage to grow healthy crops without poisoning us and the soil, why shouldn't the rest be encouraged to do the same?

Denise Meek, Field Fayre, Ross