Sri Lanka shows the danger of green dogma

Sri Lanka has collapsed into violence and chaos. This has more relevance to Britain and the west than people might think. Thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of the Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stormed his residence in Colombo at the weekend. They also set the prime minister’s house on fire.

The reason for the fury is that the country has gone bankrupt. It doesn’t have enough foreign currency to pay for imports. Fuel, medicines and some foods are in short supply. There have been power cuts, schools have been shut and prices have gone through the roof.

While corruption and general mismanagement have played their part, the principal cause of this crisis has been an obsession with organic farming. Last April, the government imposed