Caught in the middle

Here's one I wrote earlier.... but for some reason forgot to post.

Interesting article in the Sunday Times about a massive increase in whales and dolphins being caught in fishermen's nets off Cornwall. Apparently the British Government was allowed to ban British fishing boats from a 12 mile zone around Cornwall by way of response, but EU rules meant it couldn't ban foreign boats. There's also a quote from Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations: “Dolphins are an iconic species and no one likes to see them being killed but it’s a question of proportion. Why don’t you stop motor cars because of the death of hedgehogs?" This is one of those analogies so beloved of special interest groups which is self-evidently ridiculous, but does the job of diverting attention away from the original issue, at least momentarily. As you say Barrie, "it's a question of proportion".