Cluck, cluck.

Did you know that livestock can become naturalised?  There are proposals - by the EU, who else? - that after a period of residence in this country, animals and poultry can be labelled as "British" irrespective of where they originated.  And in some cases the period of residence would be very short - a chicken for example, would become a British chicken after just 28 days living here.  At present there is a legal requirement as far as beef is concerned, and a voluntary arrangement for other meat and poultry, that means that any animal or bird can be traced back to where it was born, reared and slaughtered.  Should we be concerned?  I think we should - the horsemeat business demonstrates how the race to be the cheapest can compromise quality, and those who specifically look for "British" products as a (maybe questionable) guarantee of quality ought to be able to rely on the label, and these proposals will mean that they wouldn't be able to.