Badger petition update (2)

Badger. Photo: Chris Packham

We are approaching the end of the fourth full day of this petition and it has already passed 37,000 signatures. I think this demonstrates how very angry many people are about government’s assault on one of our most loved native mammals.

Two days ago there were only four constituencies with over 100 signatures and although they are still the four constituencies at the top of the list they are now four among 63 constituencies (none yet in Scotland or Northern Ireland). It’s a very Conservative list:

Derbyshire Dales, Sarah Dines MP, 276 signatures

High Peak, Robert Largan MP, 238 signatures

Sheffield Hallam, Olivia Blake MP, 177 signatures

West Dorset, Chris Loder MP, 176 signatures

Stroud, Siobhan Baillie MP, 171 signatures

Isle of Wight, Bob Seely MP, 148 signatures

South Norfolk, Richard Bacon MP, 143 signatures

Wells, James Heappey MP, 142 signatures

St Ives, Derek Thomas MP, 142 signatures

Mid Derbyshire, Pauline Latham MP, 141 signatures

Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas MP, 141 signatures

Torridge and West Devon, Geoffrey Cox MP, 140 signatures

Amber Valley, Nigel Mills MP, 135 signatures

Lewes, Maria Caulfield MP, 134 signatures

North Shropshire, Owen Paterson MP, 133 signatures

Chippenham, Michelle Donelan MP, 132 signatures

South East Cambridgeshire, Lucy Frazer MP, 131 signatures

Arundel and South Downs, Andrew Griffith MP, 129 signatures

Central Devon, Mel Stride MP, 124 signatures

Skipton and Ripon, Julian Smith MP, 124 signatures

Rushcliffe, Ruth Edwards MP, 122 signatures

Camborne and Redruth, George Eustice MP, 121 signatures

Bristol West, Thangam Debonnaire MP, 121 signatures

Shrewsbury and Atcham, Daniel Kawczynski MP, 120 signatures

Truro and Falmouth, Cherilyn Mackrory MP, 120 signatures

North Dorset, Simon Hoare MP, 118 signatures

Calder Valley, Craig Whittaker MP, 118 signatures

Suffolk Coastal, Therese Coffey MP, 118 signatures

Totnes, Anthony Mangnall MP, 117 signatures

West Worcestershire, Harriett Baldwin MP, 115 signatures

Bridgwater and West Somerset, Ian Liddell-Grainger MP, 115 signatures

North Norfolk, Duncan Baker MP, 115 signatures

Somerton and Frome, David Warburton MP, 115 signatures

Ceredigion, Ben Lake MP, 114 signatures

South Cambridgeshire, Anthony Browne MP, 113 signatures

Ludlow, Philip Dunne MP, 113 signatures

Thirsk and Malton, Kevin Hollinrake MP, 113 signatures

Norwich South, Clive Lewis MP, 112 signatures

North Devon, Selaine Saxby MP, 111 signatures

South East Cornwall, Sheryll Murray MP, 110 signatures

Wantage, David Johnston MP, 109 signatures

Bury St Edmunds, Jo Churchill MP, 108 signatures

Broadland, Jerome Mayhew MP, 108 signatures

East Devon, Simon Jupp MP, 107 signatures

Wealden, Nusrat Ghani MP, 107 signatures

North Herefordshire, Bill Wiggin MP, 106 signatures

Louth and Horncastle, Victoria Atkins MP, 106 signatures

South Dorset, Richard Drax MP, 104 signatures

Macclesfield, David Rutley MP, 104 signatures

Buckingham, Greg Smith MP, 104 signatures

Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP, 104 signatures

Yeovil, Marcus Fysh MP, 103 signatures

South West Wiltshire, Andrew Murrison MP, 102 signtures

Brecon and Radnorshire, Fay Jones MP, 102 signatures

Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish MP, 102 signatures

South Derbyshire, Heather Wheeler MP, 102 signatures

Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron MP, 102 signatures

Henley, John Howell MP, 102 signatures

Witney, Robert Courts MP, 102 signatures

Banbury, Victoria Prentis MP, 101 signatures

North Somerset, Liam Fox MP, 101 signatures

New Forest East, Julian Lewis MP, 100 signatures

Saffron Waldon, Kemi Badenoch MP, 100 signatures

Mid Norfolk, George Freeman MP, 100 signatures

Chesterfield, Toby Perkins MP, 100 signatures

Wherever you live, please consider adding your voice – click here. Thank you!

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6 Replies to “Badger petition update (2)”

  1. 37173 on opening this morning. BBOWT, strong advocates of vaccination, have several constituencies in this list of 63.

  2. Looks very much as though the petition will reach 100,000 which is really good news. It will just show how low this Government will stoop and how much they are in league with their cronies such as the NFU.
    While bovine TB is a serious disease, as I understand it, the science shows that the likely hood of badgers transmitting the disease to cattle is low and in addition to that ,there is a perfectly good vaccine which can be used to immunise badgers. So why is this rotten Government carrying on shooting badgers? Basically because they are in league with the NFU and the other big farming combines in the same way as they are in league with the grouse shooting organisations over Driven Grouse shooting.
    So the great cruelties continue on both fronts despite the science showing there is no need to shoot badgers and that driven grouse shooting causes great environmental harm and is very much associated with criminal activity in the killing of our birds of prey.
    So science and criminality is disregarded by this despicable Westminster Government and wildlife continues to suffer all round.

  3. Who would have thought that so many Conservative voting, rural constituencies would be the source of so many signatures? We have been told so many times by ‘country folk’ that it is only bunny-hugging townies that demur at the indiscriminate slaughter of wildlife whether it is foxes, crows and, indeed, badgers, that I had become to believe it. Now this petition shows that rural dwellers, of which I am one, care about wildlife and want a voice, perhaps our representatives will take note.

    Once this petition gets above 100,000, which it will, it may well be selected for a debate. That will be time to apply firm pressure on MPs to do the job for which you elected: Represent us!

  4. I posted a link to the petition to our local community Facebook page. Seems to be some support in this area where a rock painted blue would be elected as Tory MP but then comments like this:
    “…you have clearly not seen how horrific TB is. Where there are too many, a managed cull is sensible.” and
    “What I find entertaining is the same people wanting to stop the control of badger numbers are complaining at the reduction of hedgehog numbers.maybe they should see the correlation to these two populations?” Not being a naturalist or ecologist I’d like some counter arguments.

    1. Well done for seeking more information, Gerald. I’m happy to help.

      On badgers and hedgehogs: Two publications worth a read:

      https://ptes.org/campaigns/hedgehogs/hedgehogsandbadgers/

      https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-30130-4

      The second paper states that ‘Hedgehogs were also absent from 71% of sites that had no badger setts, indicating that large areas of the rural landscape are not occupied by hedgehogs.’ That suggests to me that if there are many areas of the country where hedgehogs are scarce or absent where badger are also absent, then badgers cannot be blamed solely for their decline. Much of the decline is due to habitat loss.

      On badgers and TB: It is true that badgers can become seriously affected with bTB but many live for several years without obvious affects. There are badger sows at the long-term study area at Woodchester park which have had several successful pregnancies despite being known to be infected.

      On cattle and bTB. It is a serious disease of cattle but in 40 years as veterinarian I have never seen a clinical case. Regular testing of cattle detects early infection long before clinical disease develops.

      You might find this article worth a read:

      https://twitter.com/alicksimmons/status/1241354077948317696?s=20

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