I’ve had replies to my two recent letters to my MP. Mr Pursglove is a reliable responder to correspondence. I wonder whether it helps that I have a blog?
I wrote to Mr Pursglove about his colleague’s, Mr Loder’s, remarks about birds of prey. Chris Loder MP, does appear to be out on a limb as far as the public views of MPs are concerned even amongst fellow Conservative MPs.
Mr Pursglove wrote;
That’s not a bad response at all, and to the extent that my letter has helped my MP know a little more about White-tailed Eagles, and commit to their conservation, then it was well worth writing. Such letters have also alerted a large number of MPs that Chris Loder’s remarks went down very badly, and were not simply shrugged off, by many voters and that will have registered raptor persecution as an issue not only with the offices of individual MPs but with their political parties and with the members of this government (such as my MP) and of future governments. It’s a small thing, but people have died in this country and across the world, and still are, to establish and defend democratic systems of government and writing to your MP is a small part of maintaining that system.
Turning to Badgers, I wrote to Mr Pursglove ahead of the Westminster Hall debate on Badgers and also have received a response which defended culling but majored on the move away from killing Badgers and more emphasis on vaccination;
The fact that Ms Prentis will be penning a response to my MP is again a way to ensure that ministers have to approve responses on this issue and know that there is a large body of opinion that believes that this government has got it wrong on this issue, nevermind what large parts of the farming community believe.
Writing these two letters took me a certain amount of time, because I think about the words that I use, but they both prompted thoughtful answers which were signed by my MP. Those answers will have taken more time to produce than my original letters and will have engaged the brains of several people in the system, including, at least momentarily, that of a government minister, my MP.
I’ve written again to Mr Pursglove, I’ll post my most recent letter later today.
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I am pleased to see that most Tory MPs believe Mr. Loder is “out 9f line” with his remarks. However I still have my doubts as what most Tory MPs say in public may be rather different to what they say in private. I think it is important not to let the poisoning of the WTEagle in Dorset rest and to keep investigating it.
There is no doubt that WTEs will spread from the Isle of Wight into Dorset and perhaps try to nest there before anywhere else. WTEagles are regularly seen in Purbeck now especially up the Wareham Channel. So if there is a rotten poisoner somewhere in Dorset it is very important they are either found or deterred from repeating their criminal activity to safeguard other birds.
Good news that most sound and reasonable people are now seeing the Government’s policy of shooting badgers instead of vaccinating them, as archaic, bankrupt, and medieval. However much of what Defra allows and permits fits that description well. In the end Defra will be shamed sufficiently to be dragged screaming and shouting out of the Victorian age and into this century where people prefer intelligence and science to lethal traps, bullets and thuggery being imposed on nature and wildlife.