Farmers’ riles

I was interested to read that Brian Henderson thinks that the Red Tractor assurance scheme is “English” (Farming, 17 September).

In July I complained to the BBC about the continual use of the terms “nation” and “country” in its Country File programme in July when it was extolling the virtues of the England-only Red Tractor scheme. Gemma McAleer of BBC Audience Services wrote to assure me that the Red Tractor scheme ­operates UK-wide and, therefore, the language used was “appropriate and editorially justified”. As a lay-person I find this confusing. For instance, does the BBC not recognise the Scottish farm assurance schemes?

Or does it just think that Red Tractor takes precedence over them? Or is this just another instance of people who do not know there is a difference between “English” and “British”?

Irvine Inglis

Reston

Berwickshire