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Banana Wars Letters from the Canary Islands by Barrie Mahoney

'Writing Inspired by an Island in the Atlantic'

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Banana Wars


It is Europe Day tomorrow, which I will of course toast with a glass of my favourite rioja, and it seems appropriate that I write about bananas. Why bananas, and what’s the link with Europe you may be asking. Well, I often write about bananas, because I like bananas, I like eating them and we also have a very large banana tree growing and fruiting in our garden, which provides endless entertainment and annoyance for our dog, Bella. Bella is an elderly lady now and is partially sighted; she is obsessed with the banana tree, convinced that a gentle breeze moving the large, luxurious leaves, is actually a dangerous enemy from which she must protect us. Bananas, and similar crops, have in the past been the lifeblood of the economy of the Canary Islands and the links that these islands have with the UK are symbolised by the creation of Canary Wharf, which was the original recipient of bananas from these islands.

I have always thought that bananas are the real reason behind Brexit. Forget the accusation that “The Brits have never really liked Europe”, it is really bananas that are to blame. Do you remember all the fuss about ‘bendy bananas’ and the myth that was so lovingly nurtured by Johnson and the right wing press that straight bananas were being insisted upon by the grandees of Europe? Of course, it was nonsense, and most of the population knew it was nonsense, or did they? Despite this, it was the banana debate and other examples that became the stuff of nonsense that finally manifested itself into a call for the referendum to take Britain out of the European Union that politicians could not avoid any longer.

Bendy bananas or not, how many children and office workers include a banana as part of their lunchtime snack? The supermarket chain, Tesco, has upset many of its lunchtime customers by significantly increasing the price it charges for individual bananas. The reason for this outrage is that Tesco are now charging for single bananas instead of its usual practice of charging by weight. This has resulted in the cost of a single banana to have doubled at its Metro and Express stores.

In its defence, the supermarket giant claims that inflation, Brexit, as well as expensive leases on its stores have led to the price increase, which has led to many angry exchanges on social media, leaving Tesco quaking at its very foundations and driving all the customers to Lidl and Aldi, or so we are told.

At the time of writing, the Government appears to have lost the plot concerning Brexit, claiming that all is well, and we are now “World Beating” in every way. Labour, the main opposition party appears to be in no position to provide a workable alternative. Of course, the problem will eventually be resolved; they always are, in time, but probably not in any of our lifetimes. The problem remains of course in how much damage will be done in the interim.

How many banana skins will our leaders slip on before the deal is done? Well, there’s not much that I can do about it, so I’m just off into the garden to pick a nice fresh banana for my lunch. Bananas have a lot to answer for.

© Barrie Mahoney 2023

Join me on Facebook: @barrie.mahoney

To find out more about Barrie and his books, go to: http://barriemahoney.com/

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