It’s been a really bad few days for the grouse shooters – some of the wounds have been entirely self-inflicted and others have been because they don’t have much defence against the truth or the masses of the people.
Let’s start with Findlay Wilde, now luxuriating on holiday somewhere near a mistnet in Portugal. His thunderclap sent out a message to over 11 million accounts. Many of those messages will have been ignored or fallen on deaf ears, but some won’t. There will be some people who have had their interest sparked in the issue of wildlife crime on the grouse moors of the UK because of Findlay.
Thanks Findlay! As Rob Sheldon wrote – when you are older I’ll buy you a pint!
Now, lest we get big-headed on Findlay’s behalf, the biggest thunderclap ever reached over a billion people so our Findlay only got to within 1% of that level, but as is often the case, the numbers fall quite quickly as one comes down the league table. The 20th most successful ever reached 31 million folk; the 30th strongest reached 21 million; the 30th strongest reached 17 million. After that I can’t find the data but it’s pretty clear that if you took out primarily USA thunderclaps Findlay’s would be very high up the list. And it is still high up the all-time-strongest list however you look at it.
As I wrote yesterday, we have to spread the word, and when we do we will gain public support – it’s like a law of nature.
Findlay – you’ve done your bit, have a good holiday!
Findlay has shared with me the final details of who signed up and they are quite interesting.
Supporters with over 100,000 followers:
@Asamsakti 1.26m
@nadeeavolianova 683k
@zaibatsu 585k
@blessedatworld 497k
@universalgracef 475k
@phil500 354k
@Protect_Wldlife 292k
@iwanrheon 273k
@natures_voice That’s the RSPB’s Twitter handle! 265k
@RSPCA_official 241k
@politics_pr 239k
@hijauku.com 232k
@SnowCalmth 212k
@chrisgpackham @190k
@LushLtd 187k
@georgemonbiot 185k
@twowitwowoo 178k
@Lionheart0075 155k
@carlbovis_AFC 150k
@bookchat_ 150k
@natalieben 141k
@seasaver 134k
@zaibatsuplanet 116k
@wildlifetrusts 115k
@themovingroad 106k
Amazing support from some amazing accounts!
But absolutely everyone’s support makes a difference.
Where we need to make more progress is with politicians. Few have supported this thunderclap. Natalie Bennett from the Green Party is fully committed but the Green Party itself, and neither of its co-leaders, supported the thunderclap. That’s a shame, for it leaves many of us wondering if it’s The Greens or just Natalie of The Greens. But there is no doubting Natalie Bennett’s commitment to Hen Harriers and getting driven grouse shooting banned – she has spoken at two Hen Harrier Day rallies this year (and one last year) and at the Bird Fair (last year) and at the march in London on Saturday! Thank you Natalie.
There is nobody to thank as far as I can see from the SNP, the LibDems or, surprise surprise, the Conservative Party. But where is the Labour Party in this debate – pretty much absent? Many thanks to 
Kerry McCarthy and Chris Williamson for signing up and to Margaret Greenwood for tweeting, also to SERA, but it’s a bit thin really. Considering we keep being told this is a class war by the grouse shooters (which it isn’t) we might expect a lot more support from the left of politics. If The Greens had been a tad more supportive here then you, Labour, would be losing more support from those of us who care about nature and the environment. Angela Smith, Hen Harrier champion – not here, not on this issue, not with us, not with the RSPB, not with the wildlife trusts, nowhere. As I wrote in The Observer yesterday ‘… but Labour, a fundamentally urban party, hasn’t yet woken up to the fact that a policy of banning grouse-shooting is the right thing to do and is also an electoral asset.’.
The RSPB were very supportive – thank you very much!
And the Wildlife Trusts were less timid than usual – thank you to Scotland, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Sheffield and Rotherham and South and West Wales for your support alongside the UK organisation (but where were the others? – I’ll be writing to ask my own local wildlife trust).
It would be difficult to imagine grouse shooters being able to achieve a social media thunderclap of anything like this strength – and anyway, what would their message be; ‘Let us continue killing things for fun please’? We should make sure we continue to exploit our strength. Before next year, if you are on Twitter or Facebook, try and grow your own social media reach a little and then your support will be even more valuable next time around.
But this social media contest was won by 11 million to zero – thanks Findlay!
[registration_form]
Well I do hope I am not alone in the Labour Party but I am very actively campaigning as a Local Cllr in the LB of Hounslow supported by a number of other Labour Cllr so far in spirit.
I will be at Labour Party Conference wearing my BAWC badges and the Hen Harrier Day badge – hoping to start conversations. I did lobby some Labour MP’s before the debate and there is interest. Angela Raynor MP RT League of CS tweet #nomoormyths Just Facts and The Tweet I want to see the end to raptor persecution in the uplands and then tweeted The Guardian Article https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/896293334892916736 Hope she will come to a Hen Harrier Day next year?
Corinna
Corinna – you and I are not alone, but we certainly aren’t very numerous.
Hi Mark,
Cumbria WT also supported the thunderclap.
Due to my keen interest in all things flooding and land drainage, I particularly noted the quote ‘but Labour, a fundamentally urban party, hasn’t yet woken up to the fact that a policy of banning grouse-shooting is the right thing to do and is also an electoral asset.’ It’s surprised me that more has not been made of the way that vast tracts of moorland are being managed for grouse shooting by means of very effective drainage and invariably heather burning. Not only does this encourage an extremely narrow range of flora and fauna, but it invariably means fast run off of water, sediment transportation and peat loss. I know of several groups in those urban areas that are up in arms about the increased flood risk that such fast run off entails. The Calder Valley is a prime example, where the devastation from a series of major floods has been made worse by ‘speeding the flow’ from the Walshaw Estate and other uplands. There have been academic studies that prove that heather burning invariably increases fast run off. The fast drainage should be attenuated too to ‘slow the flow’ and this can be done quite cheaply and easily. Hopefully, this is the sort of thing that the NT will be insisting on around Kinder Scout (and hopefully have already implemented widely). So don’t forget that this sort of land management also negatively affects urban areas and the electorate therein, just to maintain a sport for the few.
Mike – indeed. And that is just one reason why the Calder Valley constituency was the one giving the highest support to my e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting. Calder Valley MP, Craig Whittaker spoke in favour of grouse shooting in the Westminster debate and came very close to losing his seat in June. I hope he will fall at the next general election.
The issues are discussed in my book, Inglorious, on pp189-90 and 225-26.
Calder Valley MP is Craig Whittaker. And the Green Party is fully committing to banning driven grouse shooting. Here is the Green Party 12th August press release https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/08/14/greens-call-for-ban-on-grouse-hunting-as-shooting-season-opens/
“Greens call for ban on grouse hunting as shooting season opens
12 August 2017
The Green Party has called for a ban on grouse hunting as shooting season opens [1] and an end to government subsidies for grouse shooting estates [2].
The UK government spends millions of pounds subsidising the grouse shooting industry, which is harmful to the environment and other wildlife [3].
Grouse shooting season officially opens on August 12 across the UK.
Amelia Womack, Green Party deputy leader, said:
“Killing for fun has no place in a decent society. But grouse shooting is even worse, because it also has a detrimental impact on the environment and other animals. We should ban grouse shooting immediately. Or at the very least, the government should end subsidies for moor estates. Throwing money at a cruel activity that is almost solely a pursuit of the rich is outdated, wasteful and disgraceful.
“Not only is it bad for wildlife, but it’s bad for human society too. The Green Party has long warned that grouse shooting threatens other wildlife and over-managed grouse shooting estates contribute to flooding [4] as well as being a cruel sport which damages the environment. We simply cannot continue to let such large areas of land be destroyed for the brief enjoyment of a very small group of elites.
“We can end the injustice of grouse shooting. Michael Gove has promised a green Brexit, where farmers will only get payouts if they agree to protect the environment and enhance rural life [5]. Grouse shooting estates tick neither of these boxes and we’re calling on Gove to recognise this. When he reshapes subsidies for agriculture during the Brexit negotiations, the payouts for grouse shooting estates must be cut. It’s cruel, it’s unfair and it’s ecologically disastrous. Grouse shooting must end.”
Notes:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/glorious-12th-what-is-it_uk_598b160ee4b0a66b8bb0471d
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/28/grouse-shooting-estates-shored-up-by-millions-in-subsidies
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/11/grouse-moors-to-blame-for-scotland-disappearing-raptors-birds-prey-glorious-twelfth
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/opinion/2441942/why-grouse-shooting-is-increasing-the-uks-flood-risk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40673559
And here is the Green Party’s GE2017 Animals Manifesto – ban ‘Shoot animals for fun’
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/green-party-animal-protection-manifesto-easy-read.pdf
Keith Taylor MEP, the Green Party animals spokesperson backed the thunderclap but doesn’t have enough twitter followers to get onto your list.
Jenny – there was support from Green Party members for the thunderclap but it was certainly patchy and despite the Green Party and Caroline Lucas each having been approached to ask for their support (no replies). I would have very much liked to have given the party high praise if their actions had meritted that. Natalie Bennett however, has been praised consistently on this blog and in person for her very clear stance on this issue.
I suggest we contact Caroline Lucas or Jonathan Bartlett through eg. Twitter, and ask why they failed to back the Thunderclap. I’m off to tweet Lucas right now.
I find getting too close to party politics is off putting and is sure to result in dissapointment.
I have come across loads of so -called greens who support bloodsports. Then there is the Labour Party which is a pro shooting as the Tories. Someone should remind Chris Williamson and Kerry Mccarthy of how their party always cuddles up to BASC each year at its party conference. The Labour party, let us not forget, has also proivide a president and chair of the Countryside Alliance.
The Labour Party and many of its union allies do not and never had any empathy for nature. You will find many of them will actively support greyhound racing as well. It is best to steer clear of the ‘my party right or wrong’ crowd on all sides. Too many have got sucked into the Labour camp which is just off putting to many other people in the country who oppose bloodsports etc but have nothing in common with the Labour Party.
Chris – you haven’t been paying attention closely enough if you believe any of that.
Labour don’t seek out BASC- BASC will go to every party conference – as did the RSPB, National Trust, Wildlife Trust etc. As a political party that has to make its xonference pay its way you are hardly likely to tell a regular paying attender to go away.
And if you think that there are many other Labour MPs who are contenders for chair of the CA other than Kate Hoey you must have been living in a cave all your life.
It is impossible to change laws without influencing who is in parliament – and we do want to influence the system don’t we? Then get political. Although I agree that ‘my party right or wrong’ is daft – which is why, as a Labour member, I don’t follow that line at all.
Thanks for your comment.