UN sanctions against Libya meant our Minister for Agriculture, Ivan Yates, had a bruising four-hour car trip through the desert when he went this week to persuade the Libyans to lift their ban and buy our beef. Neither sanctions nor US disapproval could stop him from going. Food and aid are excluded from the isolation imposed following suspicion of Libyan involvement in the Lockerbie bombing but all other links, including air links, are not allowed.
Our Minister flew to Djerba in neighbouring Tunisia and was met at the border by a black-curtained, special bullet-proof car with a special extra bullet-proof seat for a VIP.
The Libyans were so delighted to have him that they delayed granting him a visa, which he had been seeking since March, until he became president of the EU Agriculture Council. He is the first EU Minister to visit Tripoli in years and he seems to have succeeded in getting what he wanted. He hopes the beef and live cattle trade will be resumed within a few months.