Rishi Sunak and the grouse moors

Our new PM does seem like a welcome relief from Liz Truss but that is more a commentary on how dire things looked last week rather than how brilliant they look now. Remember, Mr Sunak is from a grouse-shooting constituency – Richmond in Yorkshire. And he is, according to Shooting Times (a not always reliable…

Therese Coffey lodges in Defra on her fall from the top

I dreaded this as yesterday afternoon passed. Who would get Defra? Might Sunak bring back George Eustice? Might he even bring back Michael Gove? Or was it just possible he would notice that Dr Coffey had spent some time in Defra and, to rub in her fall from Deputy PM, give her Defra to manage?…

RSPB press release

RSPB announces new President and Ambassadors   Dr Amir Khan has been elected as the RSPB’s new President. Dr Khan is an NHS doctor, best-selling author and resident doctor on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and Lorraine, as well as being a nature enthusiast and environmental campaigner. The RSPB also announces their first-ever Ambassadors including Deborah Meaden, Megan McCubbin, and…

Sir Robert Goodwill – part of the Anti Growth Coalition?

Just have a listen to this amazing interview of Robert Goodwill (ex-DEFRA minister (though not for very long)), farmer and Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, by Charlotte Smith, on BBC Radio 4 Farming today this morning. I had to have an extra Digestive biscuit with my tea to recover from it (click here, 9…

New government, new threats to wildlife

There’s a new government in the UK and an almost completely new team in Defra, but they’ve already made their mark by making statements which, taken at face value, look like an attack on the legal protections that apply to sites, habitats and species and also the greener policies that are being developed for farming…