Awful of Natural England, and confused of RSPB

  BBC Wildlife Magazine has a good article about the Hen Harrier plan (welcomed by the RSPB) which will do nothing for the Hen Harrier.  I am quoted as saying that neither the RSPB nor Natural England should have agreed a plan which does not have targets in it. What is a plan without a…

You are in charge – stand a tip-toe

On Tuesday evening, as you know, I spoke in Glossop and one question that came up, which quite often comes up, is the question of the great power of the rich landowners to get their way. When a lady asks the question it is usually along the lines of ‘Won’t it be difficult to ban…

A bit of a round up

five MPs were treated to a day’s shooting by BASC, to the value of £772 each. The five MPs were the chair of the all-party shooting and conservation (ho! ho!) group, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP (Con, Cotswolds), Bill Wiggin MP (Con, North Herefordshire), Sir Edward Garnier (Con, Harborough, former Solicitor General), Graham Brady MP (Con, Altrincham…

Spreading the word

I’ll be talking to what I am told is a sell-out crowd of around 100 people in Glossop on Tuesday evening. My message will be that we should ban driven grouse shooting. In the last couple of weeks I have spoken to a crowd of Cambridge undergraduates (c50 folk), my local RSPB group (c100 people),…

HHs in BB – time for the Royals to speak out.

There is an excellent paper in British Birds – there often is. But the February BB has ‘The past, current and potential status of breeding Hen Harriers in North-east Scotland’ by Graham Rebecca, Brian Cosnette, Jim Craib, Alistair Duncan, Brian Etheridge, Ian Frnacis, Jon Hardey, Alastair Pout and Logan Steele. It’s a very good local…

The ‘100 club’

Our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting closed at midnight on Thursday and now, with most people who signed before midnight having clicked on the confirmation email, it has reached a total of 33,614 signatures; rather satisfyingly, exactly 50% more than last year’s similar e-petition. Without any practical support from our large wildlife NGOs, we…

33,575 (and counting)

33,575*   Thank you to the 33,574 of you who also signed my (our) e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting. This sends a message to government and the grouse shooting industry that things need to change. You have sent a strong message to wildlife NGOs that there is huge popular support for a much more…

We have a much better plan

If these kids are to see Hen Harriers in the English uplands then we need a better plan than that of the hapless Defra. And we do… …here it is… Ban driven grouse shooting! – please sign this e-petition now!   E-petition closes at 23:59, today, Thursday.

We have a better plan

If we are all to see Hen Harriers (like the female above) in the English uplands then we need a better plan than that of the hapless Defra. And we do… …here it is… Ban driven grouse shooting! – please sign this e-petition now! E-petition closes at 23:59, today, Thursday.