I listened to all of Monday’s badger cull debate. It was a far better discussion than the previous one on badgers and infinitely better than the one on banning driven grouse shooting. Better though it was, it is interesting to see and listen to politicians debating science as those involved in the debate could not…
Tag: badgers
A curious strategy indeed
In a week’s time there will be a Westminster Hall debate on badger culling – it’s not the first debate and it probably won’t be the last. I would hope that MPs participating in the debate might read this essay by Anna Dale which I found very clear, very thorough and really quite shocking. It…
Good for the Wildlife Trusts!
This new e-petition is trending at over 1000 signatures an hour at the moment. I signed it when it was at about 1500 signatures but it is flying. Now, it is a very sensible e-petition, but interestingly its proposer is Simon King, the Wildlife Trusts’ President Emeritus (!) and is supported by the Wildlife Trusts….
Lord Krebs on Badgers
My old boss, Prof Lord Krebs, was on Farming Today (8 mins in) being interviewed by Anna Hill on Wednesday morning. Lord Krebs provided a masterclass in sticking to the facts, despite some niggling questions from Ms Hill, and getting the message across very clearly. The message was that the ‘too-early-to-tell-really-but-the-figures-are-out-there’ results from the Badger…
Not so Fine Shade
Fineshade Wood is not far from where I live, so I feel a bit guilty that I haven’t paid more attention to what is going on there. It’s a place I know, and like, and visit now and again, but it’s c40 minute journey from where I live, so if I want to visit a…
What did politicians offer?
I have a column in the current British Wildlife magazine about the relevance of the EU elections on 22 May, the Scottish independence vote in September and the next UK general election (just over a year away) to our wildlife. In it I also set out 20 policies that might get my vote in the…
Badgers and bTB
Here’s a head-ache for the new NFU President and his team, and also for Owen Paterson; one man in the first few days of his job and the other, if rumours are to be believed, in the last few weeks of his. An Independent Expert Panel was appointed by Defra to help evaluate the effectiveness,…
In the words of the song…
…I can see clearly now the rain has gone! I can see all obstacles in my way… We wish Owen Paterson clear vision for the months ahead. 1. Climate change is real 2. Fixing bovine tb cannot be done by a cull of badgers alone 3. Culling badgers is quite likely to increase the…
That CAPs the year off nicely – not!
The decision of the coalition government to reject the Secretary of State for the Environment’s recommendation of a full 15% rate of modulation for the CAP (and go for 12% instead) caps off an awful year for wildlife in England; – glacially slow and inadequate progress on MCZs – UK opposition to a neonic ban…
Charles Clover’s £398
I like Charles Clover but I don’t (by any means) always agree with him. His column in today’s Sunday Times is entitled ‘Greedy farmers a-milking it, no turtle doves and no partridges either‘ and describes Peter Kendall as ‘the cocky ambassador of agri-business‘. Wow! Even I am more polite about PK than that! Charles Clover,…