The disappearance of income support for grouse moors in a post-Brexit world is apparently on the cards – and is a sound policy route to follow as a small aspect of making our money work better for taxpayers, consumers and farmers alike. But the other side of the coin is that more money should be…
Tag: therese coffey
Defra’s year
I asked a bunch of NGOs what they thought were Defra’s greatest achievements of 2016; The GWCT, BASC, Butterfly Conservation and Plantlife were, apparently, stumped as they couldn’t come up with anything. I also asked Defra themselves and they said they’d get back to me – but they…
Rory Stewart – this one is in your constituency
Rory Stewart has moved on from Defra but his legacy of inactivity on wildlife crime lives on and its impacts are manifest in his own constituency. A case of dead birds coming home to roost? I didn’t have any takers for my 100/1 bet that Rowan died of natural causes. It’s hardly surprising. He couldn’t…
Bit rude Ms Coffey
Dear minister I sent you a copy of my book, Inglorious – conflict in the uplands, over a month ago and haven’t yet received an acknowledgement. That’s very rude of you and Defra isn’t it? By the way, your predecessor was equally rude. Since I sent you that book, which has had rave reviews, and…
Therese Coffey left to pick up the pieces
The outgoing Defra ministers of Liz Truss and Rory Stewart, most particularly the latter, bear much of the responsibility for the shambles that is the government approach to Hen Harrier conservation in England. After today’s withdrawal of the RSPB from the hopeless Defra Hen Harrier Inaction Plan – because it is already clear that it…
All change at Defra – not quite
And so we say farewell to Liz Truss and Rory Stewart – both of whom were promoted in Theresa May’s reshuffle. Truss remains in the Cabinet and got the bigger job in Justice (never has a promotion been so unjust) and Rory Stewart is made Minister of State at International Development. Only George Eustice, the…