They do things differently in Scotland – quite often better (but you’d never know from the rubbish that the SNP MPs are sending their constituents).
Scotland has vicarious liability – denied to the English by a grouse-moor-owning Defra minister.
Scotland is carrying out a review of losses of satellite-tagged raptors to investigate how many of them plummet to earth over grouse moors – we know the answer – the answer is ‘loads and loads and far too many’.
In England we have a government which gets its MPs to pretend that ‘being illegal’ is the solution to wildlife crime and neglects to do anything about enforcement. And this is the so-called, self-called, party of law and order (except when it comes to rich land owners in the hills who are supporters of the Tory Party, it seems).
And in England we don’t even get to see any analysis of a decade-long study, paid for by our taxes, of satellite-tagged Hen Harriers. Scotland has expanded the scope of their study to three species, England has not yet expanded it to one species.
This government, and every Conservative MP has a massive dilemma – we all know that driven grouse shooting is underpinned by wildlife crime – and yet the Conservative Party and the government will not face up to it and name a single measure to combat the wildlife crime that robs us all of our wildlife. Killing raptors, in order to shoot Red Grouse for fun, is big money for upland land owners. How much of that money goes into Conservative Party coffers one way or another?
You could sign this e-petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting to increase the pressure for action but you could also write to your MP on the subject as the e-petition has already passed the threshold at which a debate in parliament is triggered. If you do write, then expect to get this from Conservative MPs, this from Labour MPs and this from SNP MPs.
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Quite so – and it’s the same with tax avoidance and evasion!
Hi Mark, just to let you know have had terse reply from my MP, the Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin. He thinks grouse shooting is good for the rural economy. And so it probably is, and so is lead stripping from churches, cannabis farming, pushing through dodgy MOTs and of course the daylight robbery that is the Stately Home Farm Shop. I don’t understand the Rt Hon. He wasn’t brought up posh.
He mentions 70,000 full time jobs. (Hard to believe. I have relations who beat free for the glory of the forelock tugging and a couple of corpses for the pot.)
He thinks its good for wildlife and habitat conservation too.
Pity.
Hilary, you might consider writing back asking for his evidence (cited reports, years published, authors etc.) upon which he asserts such statistics.
OK, he may well fob you off but all this is grist to the campaign mill that the tosh pedalled doesn’t stand up to scrutiny?
Better still ask him to speak in the debate and bring the evidence with him so it can be cross examined?
Yes I will ask him to speak, certainly. He really is a very hard working man, and he has achieved a great deal through his own merits. Not a silver spoon Tory. I’ll try again (poor bloke).
Based upon the failure by our Tory government to bring an end to an illegal industry called Driven Grouse Shooting, we should advise the police asking them to undertake a criminal investigation into the complicity of this government.
I went camping in the Yorkshire Dales last weekend for 3 nights. You would think the rolling hills (albeit sheep heavy!!) would be perfect habitat for buzzards and red kites etc. I didn’t see a single solitary raptor for the whole stay. Criminal.