A funny thing happened yesterday – the #inglorious12th

Usually, on the first day of the Red Grouse shooting season, there are lots of photos of men in tweed ‘oop on t’moors, wi’ guns’ practising a peculiarly British unsporting sport. But yesterday the papers were practically devoid of such nonsense and what coverage there was seemed to carry news of the fact that grouse…

Why driven grouse shooting is doomed

I’m quite often asked whether I really want a ban on driven grouse shooting – I do! And then I’m sometimes told that ‘It’ll never happen’ and I say ‘It will’. This is why. Let’s start with the very obvious, but rarely stated, fact that driven grouse shooting is not essential. We don’t need it….

Hen Harrier Day thunderclap

The message went out 5.7 million times just after 10am on Sunday, ‘We’re missing our hen harriers – we want them back!‘ This was too controversial a message to gather the support of Defra (the government department responsible for nature conservation and restoring the status of the Hen Harrier in England), Natural England (the English…

Hen Harrier Day 2015 (2)

Chris Packham was an absolute star on Hen Harrier Eve and at the rally in the Goyt Valley. This is a man who cares passionately about wildlife and is using his public position to promote a better deal for wildlife. He is an inspiring man. I don’t agree with Chris about everything (which means that…