The recently knighted Sir John Randall MP is a birder. Having stepped down from being Deputy Chief Whip he is now enjoying the freedom of the backbenches and the freedom to speak up for nature (note this speech he made in the Christmas adjournment debate from 1:40pm onwards where he touches on various subjects including…
Tag: farmers
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,…
Where will your £400 go?
As I was driving home from Cheltenham races yesterday I was switching through the radio channels and heard the Deputy President of the NFU and my former colleague Gareth Morgan on PM (click here – after 20 mins). Meurig Raymond clearly hasn’t been paying much attention to the silver-tongued Peter Kendall as his answers weren’t…
New CLA President – Henry Robinson
The new President of the CLA is Henry Robinson – well, he’s no longer that new, he’s been in post a couple of weeks. I’ve always liked Henry (though I don’t know him that well – maybe I’m too quick to like). Anyone who I occasionally meet at Cheltenham racecourse starts with a slight advantage…
Writing to my MP – 1
I’ve been telling people that they should write to their MPs as I travel around the country giving talks. Politics is at the heart of almost all solutions to environmental problems. So, I wouldn’t ask you to do it if I wouldn’t do it myself, so here is the first of monthly letters that I…
Bird Atlas – Farmland birds
Pictures can get messages across better than words sometimes. As one flicks through the pages of this Atlas one keeps seeing farmland species with shrinking distributions. But the key to truly appreciating the scale of what is happening to these familiar birds is to look at the maps of change of relative abundance. Time after…
LEAF – turn over a new one
On Monday I went to the Linking Environment and Farming President’s conference in the headquarters of HSBC in Canary Wharf. I have a lot of time for LEAF, although there were a few moments on Monday when I thought I might have stumbled into an NFU conference instead of a LEAF one. How long should…
And so we say farewell…
…to Peter Kendall, the President of the National Farmers’ Union, who has decided not to seek re-election next February. Farmers Weekly quotes Kendall as saying he isn’t looking for a career in politics – so I expect that’s where he’s heading. Peter Kendall has been a very popular NFU leader amongst farmers – he has…
An open letter to the new Defra Ministers
To George Eustice and Dan Rogerson. Dear Ministers Congratulations on your new ministerial appointments. You have an unpredictable time, but no more than 568 days (less holidays, the run up to the General Election, time off sick and being moved on or sacked) to make a difference. Given the uncertainties of Ministerial tenure you can’t…