Thursday, 13 December 2012

Free Trade?

I have been informed today that Alan Coffey, of Portavogie, purveyor of seafood to the household, has been prevented from carrying out his trade by the Health & Safety police.

Coffey's parked their van in my vicinity most Thursdays, at a strategic position.

Readers might spot the Belmont two-wheeler.

They received a visit recently from Health & Safety officers, and were asked where they washed their hands; and that the van was parked too close to the main road.

I strongly suspect that the European Union has a hand in this.

When will we be rid of this unwanted creature? I have never heard such stuff and nonsense in my life, preventing decent, honest traders from their livelihoods.

The sooner we leave the EU, the better.
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6 comments:

  1. Jim13 December 2012 at 19:49

    Oh dear. We buy his fish occasionally when we are in Donaghadee.

    Busy-bodies should keep their noses out of such things.

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  2. Anonymous14 December 2012 at 12:14

    Now I'm curious. Where do they wash their hands?

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  3. Timothy Belmont14 December 2012 at 16:09

    Anon, I always clean and cook my raw fish anyway.

    They could use liquid gel for their hands, which kills most bacteria!

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  4. Dermot16 December 2012 at 20:17

    Nothing to do with the Health and Safety police who are busy trying to prevent death and serious injury on our farms and other dangerous workplaces. Was more likely an environmental health officer or a food safety officer from the local council. Personally I'm happy that someone is ensuring that the food we buy from such outlets is clean and uncontaminated.

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  5. Timothy Belmont16 December 2012 at 22:32

    Dermot,

    You could be right, re Environmental Health v HSE.

    There was never an issue with it before, or 30 years ago.

    It still happens: A fishmonger comes along in his van every week, all over the town, and has been doing so for 50 years, taking over from his father.

    I suspect it was some "job's-worth" from Environmental Health.

    I was glad to see Coffey's.

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  6. Anonymous18 December 2012 at 17:31

    I believe the only issue with past levels of sanitation was that people became ill and didn't understand why.
    I'm delighted that there are council employees, trained in the lessons learned over the past 50 years and more, who can give advice to traders and impose minimum standards.
    I am sure that anyone deserving of your warrant would seek to exceed the minimum.
    The hand-washing issue is easily solved by the way - follow this link: http://vangadgets.co.uk/vanwash-hand-washing-units.htm

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