When Prince Harry went down to the woods…

It is 10 years ago that three observers (one a minor) were watching Hen Harriers coming in to roost at Dersingham Bog NNR when the birds fell out of air and shots were heard.  I’ve always believed that those birds were shot and that it wasn’t a made-up account. Indeed, I have also thought the…

10 years

  From Fighting for Birds: I was on a train to London on 24 October 2007 when one of my staff ‘phoned me up and said he’d had a phone call from a Natural England staff member who had just seen two hen harriers shot out of the air on or near the Sandringham Estate….

How is it going? The leading constituencies

Gavin Gamble’s e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting is within 500 signatures of triggering a response from Defra – that will mark a valuable milestone. It seems to have been around for ages but it’s only three weeks! Here are the leading constituencies so far – many of them are old friends (these all have…

Dr Coffey – do the right thing

Dr Therese Coffey is the junior minister in Defra and some time fairly soon will be asked to sign off a government response to Gavin Gamble’s e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting assuming that it passes 10,000 signatures (which it will). Dr Coffey closed the debate on grouse shooting almost a year ago in a…