Michael Gove’s ears should have been burning last weekend. It’s not that everyone at the Bird Fair was talking about him, but some were. And it’s not that everyone believes that he is going to do good things but some do, and most of the rest will wait and see.
His name came up in the debates at least twice – probably more, and also in conversation. I hear that Gove spent an evening with Natural England Board members and appeared to listen and also asked intelligent questions. I also learned that he was seen in a London bookshop buying a stack of books on the environment – let’s hope that Inglorious, or even Fighting for Birds, were among them. And he has made a fairly favourable impression on wildlife NGOs and has given them the impression that he wants to get things done. On the other hand, the NFU feel a bit on the edge of things right now. It seems as though the Secretary of State may have decided that the NFU are the problem in his new job just as he seemed to target the NUT when Education Secretary. We’ll see, but the vibes are fairly positive.
I do hope that we aren’t all heading for a big let down.
No hopes have been raised that Labour will do much for wildlife. I hope that Labour is not letting this area slip through their fingers.
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