‘When a ‘sport’ becomes a crime wave’
This’ll be an interesting one for the Moorland Association to field. Will it be Amanda ‘If we let the hen harrier in, we will soon have nothing else‘ Anderson, or the new chair of the Moorland Association, that’s Mark William Philip Cunliffe-Lister, Lord Masham, the future Earl of Swinton, on whose land two shot Hen Harriers have been found? Maybe they’ll be hiding behind their sofas with their fingers in their ears between 7pm and 8pm this evening when Channel4 News is on?
Could be interesting.
And what will they say afterwards?
[registration_form]
A decent report, with some shocking stats; “balanced” by the usual pretty pictures of an Oik, Lapwing and Curlew, plus tired attempts to downplay the issue from the wrong ‘uns (“nip in the bud”).
Channel 4 news is pretty good at reporting these types of issue in a balanced and meaningful way. Unlike the BBC whose reporting these days, is often biased towards the shooters and can be very superficial.
The BBC is now the official voice of the Tory Party, gets its scripts direct from Conservative Central Office, and the Tories love shooting peasants. Sorry, pheasants. No, wait, I was right the first time.
It was indeed a fair report, with Inspector Matt Hagan telling how it really is and the bleating of the apologists is becoming less and less effective.
So who did they put up, the new head keeper of Dallowgill Estate, the son of the old headkeeper, surely he must know more or better than to talk about “nipping it in the bud.” That bud must be a huge bloody bush or tree by now with very deep roots. Oh and that caricature of himself Duncan Thomas of BASC, their Northern Director. According to Duncan it is few, they are intolerant of it and expel those found guilty.
ITS NIDDERDALE DUNCAN A LOT OF THEM ARE AT IT AND HAVE BEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME, PROBABLY EVER SINCE IT WAS OUTLAWED.
Bit of a get out clause really as the industry/ hobby is rife with it and few get found out. We might sit up and take notice Duncan if you expelled the ones you know about before they are in court. We know about some of them so you must!
Anyone form the owners club, sorry Moorland Association was notable by their absence.
Let’s see if Countryfile on Sunday is as hard hitting, I rather doubt it and that is where the chief apologists are likely to do a turn.
Let’s not forget that not so long ago, the buggers were squealing like spoilt kids for legal protection to be dropped, but now that they’re under the spotlight it’s all “we love raptors, honest guv!”
Aside from Mandy’s gem, remember this from Killtruth?
“The tragedy of Langholm is that we sat down at the end and felt that in many ways it proved that those gamekeepers who killed raptors illegally had in some way been right to do so.”
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/07/unfair-game-why-are-britain-s-birds-prey-being-killed
And, that old music hall double act, Burnett and Hogg…
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/11890299.gamekeepers-seek-a-licence-to-kill-raptors/
I’d forgotten the Killtruth one, I find all his utterances offensively annoying, often because they are obviously based on a total misread or are completely oblivious of the facts as this.
Whatever the shooting lobby claim for the last two years of Langholm 2 there were enough grouse to shoot based on their own original criteria. However they deliberately moved the goal posts to score political points against raptors.
Ah the famous Scottish double act always stating the unacceptable, based on Edwardian values they cannot move on from. Not so much Dumb and Dumber ( we wish) but stuck in the era of Laurel and Hardy but unlike them not funny and rather dated.
The media should really move on from talking to the darkside when discussing persecution, they don’t talk to murderers or burglars when discussing crimes relevant to them, its not fairness its stupidity.