This blog has learned that the new Chair of Natural England, Andrew Sells, has been taking a strong line on the consultation over the General Licence. He doesn’t seem terribly keen on the consultation at all – or is it the views of the public in response to the consultation that he dislikes? Or is…
Tag: Owen Paterson
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…
Wildlife defence in England – a hollow force?
During his/her annual speech last night the Chief of the Environmental Defence Staff was horribly misquoted as saying; I can understand, completely, that in times of slightly lower national richness we must clobber the environment for all it is worth. I have, of course, no argument with our ‘greenest ever Prime Minister’ on that score. …
Caroline Lucas – Wildlife MP of 2013
Through gaining over 600 of the 1546 votes cast, Caroline Lucas was far and away the choice of readers of this blog as the MP who had done most for wildlife in 2013. Here are a few lessons that might come out of this poll. First place: Caroline Lucas, Green Party, 39% of the votes…
Wildlife MP of 2013 – you choose
Wildlife doesn’t have a vote. If the interests of wildlife are to be served, then those interests need to be voiced by us and by our representatives in the various parliaments around the UK. Here is a list (alphabetical order) of six Westminster MPs who have made an impact on wildlife during 2013. Who would…
Buy your badger Christmas cards here!
It’s December tomorrow so you should be posting your Christmas cards soon. About a dozen people have ordered sets of these cards so far and have told me that they will send them to Defra, Natural England, the NFU and David Cameron as a protest against the badger cull. If you’d like to purchase a…
A badger isn’t just for Christmas but…
Ralph Underhill and I have got together to bring you this set of three highly festive and wildlife-friendly Christmas cards. We thought that you might like to send them to the following people: Peter Kendall The National Farmers’ Union Agriculture House Stoneleigh Park Stoneleigh Warwickshire CV8 2TZ ————————————————————————————————————————————— Owen Paterson, Secretary of State George Eustice,…
Four tories
I was quite shocked by Owen Paterson’s performance on the Today programme on Tuesday in response to the Nature Check report (click here to listen, at 01:34 and 17 seconds). That is, shocked in the sense of outraged rather than surprised. The gist of Paterson’s comments was that the views of the 41 organisations signing…
Neonicotinoids – temporary ban
Owen Paterson must have been really hacked off by the vote in Europe yesterday to enforce a temporary ban on neonicotinoids. But at least it explains why some in his party think that we are going to be flooded with Romanians looking for jobs and benefits any time soon – we have a…