Felicity Lawrence's basic complaint about the modern world is that we've - by and large at least - solved the basic human problem. So well have we done so that even poor people are able to eat other than gruel or pease pudding these days. Of course, this is an outrage to such grande dames of progressive opinion such as Ms. Lawrence so we must all make food more expensive again to rid ourselves of this scourge.

After all, what's the point of even having poor people if they're going to be just like the rest of us? Who could we condescend to if that were true?

We do admit to not finding that all that waggish. But this is a very good joke:

Oligopolies in the retail and food service sectors are mirrored in the processing sector, where there has been remorseless merger and acquisition activity as abattoirs seek to match the power of big supermarket and fast-food buyers. Just four abattoir groups control more than three-quarters of UK red meat processing: ABP, Dawn, which has recently merged with Dunbia, 2Sisters and Morrisons, which retains its own supply chain. The proposed merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda will concentrate markets even further. Hardline Brexit free-marketeers never seem to extend their passion for liberal economics to breaking this tendency towards monopoly.

We would count Christopher Booker and Richard North among those hardline Brexit free-marketeers. We'd also point out that they've spent the best part of a decade talking about EU abattoir regulations. Those regulations of such cost that only the larger groups, with larger facilities, can possibly hope to meet the costs. All of which led to the closure of all small scale and local slaughterhouses and the consolidation of the industry into those oligopolistic chains.

You know, as oppressive levels of regulation tend to cause?

Now, isn't that a good joke by Ms. Lawnrence? Even if her more basic view of the food industry is that they mustn't even be allowed to eat cake these days.