Bad deal for the environment

The Brexit deal on the table is a bad one for the environment. It moves the protections for the environment and workers’ rights out of the divorce agreement (which is a binding treaty, in effect) and into the polital declaration which is non-binding. This is the change to the level playing field that the Johnson…

And another…

See here Where is the Werritty report and will it be fit for purpose? Why are NE licensing brood meddling instead of clamping down on wildlife crime? Why has no Defra minister ever condemned the scale of illegal killing of protected wildlife on driven grouse moors? Why is the Moorland Association not ostracised by statutory…

New Networks for Nature in York

The annual New Networks for Nature event starts in two weeks time – in York. Ticket sales end at midnight Monday 28 October – click here for details.

A deal? A bad one if so.

It is reported that Boris and the EU have agreed a ‘deal’. Jeremy Corbyn is reported widely as having said; From what we know, it seems the Prime Minister has negotiated an even worse deal than Theresa May’s, which was overwhelmingly rejected. These proposals risk triggering a race to the bottom on rights and protections:…

E-petition to ban driven grouse shooting – update

The total has passed 111,111 signatures and the prospect of a general election campaign (which would close all such petitions on the UK Parliament website) keeps approaching and receding, more often than the movement of the tides it seems to me. It’s unclear whether the time for ‘one last big push’ is today or in…

Vegetarian food and the NFU

This is apparently a controversial video – a Dad (controversial!) cooking (controversial!) his daughter a vegetarian meal because that’s what she wants (controversial!). The NFU issued a statement – click here – where it expresses its ‘significant concerns’ and its worries about the ‘distress caused to British farmers’. I’ve felt for a long time that…

Dear Mr Pursglove

Dear Mr Pursglove It’s quite some time since I last wrote to you. So may I congratulate you on your new post as Assistant Government Whip. I appreciate getting your newsletter and keep an eye on what you are doing. In which regard, I looked you up on the recent Guardian review of MPs’ votes…

Save Catfield Fen (again?)

Hmmm – it seems as if the battle fought over water abstraction by the owners and managers of Catfield Fen – Mr and Mrs Tim Harris – is being seen as a useful case study with much wider relevance than even just in the Norfolk Broads, or the UK but on a more global scale…

Gone, gone, gone…

A brood of five Hen Harrier chicks were ‘brood-meddled’ this year, and all were satellite-tagged so that we could all relish their adventures over the coming years. Trouble is, three of these birds have ceased transmitting signals to their expensive satellite links – just as is normal for Hen Harriers that spend much time on…

Back home again

I’ve been touring around the country for a few days, but now I’m back home for a while. I enjoyed seeing some scenery, some muirburn, some Harbour Porpoises, an Iceland Gull (thank you to the birder in the beach car park at Brora for letting me have a peek through his ‘scope), a male Hen…