Over 57,000 e-actions have been taken since Hen Harrier Day, pressing elected politicians to act on wildlife crime and generally on the ecological problems associated with driven grouse shooting. Thank you – it’s an amazing response and I’m sure it has quite a way to go still.
Here are three letters from Conservative MPs to their constituents. One is from the Chancellor Rishi Sunak whose constituency has many grouse moors, and in whose constuituency Hen Harriers have ‘disappeared’. Another is from Rebecca Pow, a DEFRA minister who has direct responsibility for these issues as part of the ministerial team. And yet another is from a west London MP who is the Prime Minister.
Can you tell which response is which?
Thank you for contacting me about the protection of birds of prey. It is important to recognise the conservation and economic benefits that shooting sports bring to rural communities. A study in 2010 by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust showed that predator control resulted in significant increases in the breeding success of ground nesting birds such as curlew, golden plover and lapwing. I believe that individuals should be free to manage wildlife within the law, and that the Government should only intervene when there is good reason to do so.
All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and there are strong penalties in place for offences committed against birds of prey and other wildlife, with most wildlife crimes carrying up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. To address concerns about illegal killing of birds of prey, senior Government and enforcement officers have identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority. The National Wildlife Crime Unit monitors and gathers intelligence on wildlife crime, including raptor persecution, and aids police forces in their investigations when required.
The Government has always been clear of the need to phase out rotational burning of protected blanket bog to conserve these vulnerable habitats. Real progress is being made in promoting sustainable alternatives and I am pleased to tell you that legislation is being looked at which could help achieve this. Ministers have also been encouraging landowners to adopt sustainable options and continue to work with them constructively. The England Peat Strategy will be published later this year which will detail further how we can protect, restore, and reduce damage to our peatlands.
While there are no current plans to carry out a review of the management of grouse moors, I recognise it is vital that wildlife and habitats are respected and protected, and that the law is observed. I can assure you that the Government will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Kind regards,
Thank you for contacting me about the protection of birds of prey.
My colleagues and I recognise the conservation and economic benefits that shooting sports bring to rural communities. A study in 2010 by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust showed that predator control resulted in significant increases in the breeding success of ground nesting birds such as curlew, golden plover and lapwing. I believe that individuals should be free to manage wildlife within the law, and that the Government should only intervene when there is good reason to do so.
All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and there are strong penalties in place for offences committed against birds of prey and other wildlife, with most wildlife crimes carrying up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. To address concerns about illegal killing of birds of prey, senior Government and enforcement officers have identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority. The National Wildlife Crime Unit monitors and gathers intelligence on wildlife crime, including raptor persecution, and aids police forces in their investigations when required.
Ministers have always been clear of the need to phase out rotational burning of protected blanket bog to conserve these vulnerable habitats. Real progress is being made in promoting sustainable alternatives and I am pleased to hear that legislation is being looked at which could help achieve this. Ministers have also been encouraging landowners to adopt sustainable options and continue to work with them constructively. The England Peat Strategy will be published later this year which will detail further how we can protect, restore, and reduce damage to our peatlands.
After speaking to Ministerial colleagues in DEFRA, it is clear that the Government is very concerned about hen harrier populations, which is why it took the lead on the Hen Harrier Action Plan. This sets out what will be done to increase hen harrier populations in England and includes measures to stop illegal persecution.
While there are no current plans to carry out a review of the management of grouse moors, I recognise it is vital that wildlife and habitats are respected and protected, and that the law is observed. I am pleased that the Government will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Kind regards,
Good afternoon,
Thank you for contacting me about the protection of birds of prey.
Firstly, shooting sports do bring conservation and economic benefits to rural communities like ours. A study in 2010 by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust showed that predator control resulted in significant increases in the breeding success of ground nesting birds such as curlew, golden plover and lapwing. Individuals should be free to manage wildlife within the law, but the Government will intervene when there is good reason to do so.
As I am sure you are aware, all wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and there are strong penalties in place for offences committed against birds of prey and other wildlife, with most wildlife crimes carrying up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. To address concerns about illegal killing of birds of prey, the Government and enforcement officers have identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority. The National Wildlife Crime Unit monitors and gathers intelligence on wildlife crime, including raptor persecution, and aids police forces in their investigations when required.
Real progress is being made in promoting sustainable alternatives to heather burning. My ministerial colleagues have been encouraging landowners to adopt sustainable options and they continue to work with them constructively. The England Peat Strategy will be published later this year and will detail further how we can protect, restore, and reduce damage to our peatlands.
While there are no current plans to carry out a review of the management of grouse moors, it is vital that wildlife and habitats are respected and protected, and that the law is observed. The Government will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation.
Finally, the Government is very concerned about hen harrier populations, which is why it took the lead on the Hen Harrier Action Plan. This sets out what will be done to increase hen harrier populations in England and includes measures to stop illegal persecution.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Kind regards,
Tricky isn’t it? they are all clearly much the same, written from the same cribsheet (or party line) and trotted out with very few changes. Given that there is no hint of admission of being someone who might actually have some responsibility for the current situation by dint of their job, and given that there is no recognition that this is actually an issue within the very constituency of one of these MPs, we don’t have a lot to go on.
There are some slight textual differences.
On burning:
The Government has always been clear of the need to phase out rotational burning of protected blanket bog to conserve these vulnerable habitats. Real progress is being made in promoting sustainable alternatives and I am pleased to tell you that legislation is being looked at which could help achieve this.
Ministers have always been clear of the need to phase out rotational burning of protected blanket bog to conserve these vulnerable habitats. Real progress is being made in promoting sustainable alternatives and I am pleased to hear that legislation is being looked at which could help achieve this.
Real progress is being made in promoting sustainable alternatives to heather burning.
So, on burning, Grey is pleased to tell us that there is legislation being looked at, and Blue has heard the same, but Red doesn’t seem to have been told about it (or actually, he (for it is a he) or one of his staff has decided to take out that line).
How about Hen Harriers?:
After speaking to Ministerial colleagues in DEFRA, it is clear that the Government is very concerned about hen harrier populations, which is why it took the lead on the Hen Harrier Action Plan. This sets out what will be done to increase hen harrier populations in England and includes measures to stop illegal persecution.
Finally, the Government is very concerned about hen harrier populations, which is why it took the lead on the Hen Harrier Action Plan. This sets out what will be done to increase hen harrier populations in England and includes measures to stop illegal persecution.
So, Grey hasn’t been told to pretend to care about Hen Harriers (or actually, he (for it is a he) was, but he chose to omit that bit), Blue had a chat with DEFRA ministers and picked up the fact that she (for it is Rebecca Pow) is supposed to care about them and Red is very concerned.
Answers:
Boris Johnson MP, Uxbridge and South Ruislip (and Prime Minister)
Rebecca Pow MP, Taunton Deane (and DEFRA)
Rishi Sunak MP, Richmond, Yorkshire (and Chancellor)
If you want to give your elected politician a nudge to act for change then please send them a message through this e-action which is a joint campaign by the RSPB, Hen Harrier Action and Wild Justice. Click here to have a look please. You’ll be joining over 57,000 others. Thank you!
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What a terrible trio. The same old Tory rubbish is being trotted out again and again that shooting is good for conservation. I do wish our wildlife on our moorlands could comment on that statement. If so the trio might each get a few raspberries through their front doors from, for example, the mountain hares and those that have their houses flooded by surging torrents of grouse moors.
We have to work around the hopeless case of the Tory Government in Westminster and concentrate on the government’s of the other principalities of the U.K. who seem to be much more reasonable and willing to listen to the evidence and take some sort of action.
I have so far written four times to my Tory MP since she was newly elected in December but haven’t yet had the courtesy of any reply. In this latest instance, perhaps it is because she is too embarrassed to send the standard response that has been provided to her!
I still haven’t received a reply from my Labour MP Lisa Nandy
That’s interesting because I got a very well researched response from Marie Rimmer (I posted it in the comments on this blog and on RPUK) who’s constituency is St. Helens next to Wigan and with the same demographic. Perhaps the Labour party aren’t as slick with the communal BS as the Tories.
The response i got was basically well researched it mentioned burning and flood risks etc and accepted that doing nothing over DGS is not an option.
These three letters and the Tories Alliance with the shooting industry reminds me of a famous quotation from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar Act 1 “ You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome”.
My MP, an old Etonian parachuted in to this safe Tory seat has not yet seen fit to reply to me. I’m not surprised and I don’t expect much if he ever does. Still, shows contempt for his constituents and democracy.
Darren – it is holiday time, to be fair.
Bim Afolami by any chance?
Yes – with one or two words changed this is the reply I got from my Tory MP Simon Fell. Disappointing, but not surprising. At least he bothered to reply…
Kathleen – don’t let him off so easily. responding to a constituent is part of the job! He works for you.
I had a virtually identical letter to Rushi Sunak’s, from my MP, Gavin Williamson. I wasn’t expecting anything different to be honest. He always tows the party line no matter what topic I have written to him about.
I doubt this government will do anything about it. Their rich friends who own the moorlands and others who take part in the shooting of grouse will have more influence than any of us.
Joy – that’s very defeatist.; We, the people, are in charge. We can make things happen. But only if we act…
My reply from Robert Courts, MP for the Witney constituency, while including some of the standard paragraphs, did contain some of the his personal thoughts and observations including the fact that he is a member of BBOWT and that he is an admirer of CP…….
“As someone who is a member of the Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and has been lucky enough to see both Marsh Harriers and the much rarer Hen Harrier in the wild, I can assure you that I care deeply about their conservation, as I do about all birds of prey.”
” I understand that Chris Packham, who I have met, like and admire, has written an essay in the current edition of Field Sports Journal in which he accepts that curlew are better protected on grouse moors than on farmland. Significantly, he expresses the view that he would like to see both sides stop fighting and start co-operating, devising a plan which addresses, among other things, raptor persecution and predator control. I welcome those sentiments, and do believe that common ground can be found. Individuals should be free to manage wildlife within the law, and that the Government should only intervene when there is good reason to do so.”
I thought this was a fair response.
Nick – thank you. Except that your MP seems to think that Hen Harriers do well on grouse moors, that they are predated by Wild Cats and that the failing Hen Harrier Action Plan is the best way forward – didn’t he? Also, he did not say that he was going to forward your letter to a minister which is what your original email to him asked him to do. So, better in some ways though it is, I think Mr Courts will be getting quite a few replies asking him to pass on concerns to DEFRA on behalf of his constituents, and if you wanted him to do that (always a good idea in my opinion) then you could respond to his email and ask him, very politely to do so.
I have a lot of time for my Tory MP here in Cornwall …I’ve met her she’s honest and approachable. She replied in detail about netting in our area … she’d actually read my letter . I will write to her again on the subject of raptor persecution especially around our Hen Harriers . She sent me a bog standard reply this time . The estate adjacent to our property have been shooting Corvids all day, with all the bird identification skills you can imagine ! in an AONB and a SSSI ! Birds of Prey are rarely seen here on the Tamar and appear briefly before disappearing . It’s a disgrace and I shall be highlighting that issue with her .
Amanda – thank you. And I guess that is Sherryl Murray.
My MP who is the Chief Whip and MP for Sherwood has not replied. Perhaps he’s still working out what to say about my letter to him about badger culling.
Automated response from Gill Furniss on 8th August. Nothing since.
The reply from my Conservative MP for South Suffolk, James Cartlidge, is verbatim from Defra. But why should we expect any of them to think for themselves anymore?
Further to my previous posting, which I want to re-address, I have now heard from my MP Mark Spencer but dismayed to see the reply is the usual standard letter.