I’ve just written a letter to Jack Straw, my local MP here in Blackburn, about the Coalition Government’s proposed Badger Cull. I do like a good letter.
Dear Jack Straw,
I read in today’s Independent that DEFRA is proposing to press ahead with a badger cull. I’m not at all clear whether this is an announced policy or an over-enthusiastic journalist, but I and my family feel very strongly about the subject and would very much like to hear about your stance on the matter.
To be clear, culling badgers in an attempt to control Bovine TB is
uneconomical and at best of doubtful benefit; the RBCT conducted over 5 years of culling [1], resulting in the deaths of 10,960 badgers, and concluded that culling badgers in any practical and applicable way simply doesn’t work.
Please can you explain to me why the government is ignoring the science and listening only to the NFU? (quite apart from the contemptuous labelling of anyone who dares opppose their plans as mere anthropomorphising beatrix potter fans).
Why is vaccinating badgers being down-played? Why are we not talking about improving bio-security on farms? What about cattle-control measures?
There are many options available that don’t involve unlawfully killing a protected species, why is our government not pursuing them?
Yours sincerely,
Chris Keegan
[1] See this letter (very scientific!) from Nature for an explanation of what the Randomised Badger Culling Trial was: http://www.welshwildlife.org/attachments/Badgers/Donnelly%20Nature.pdf
Or if you’d prefer a less dense version, Jo wrote an excellent summary of Rosie Woodroffe’s talk about RBCT at this year’s Badger Trust conference.
Limp Response From Jack Straw
I received this letter from the office of Jack Straw. While I appreciate they’re busy, I’ve had more thoughtful feedback from MP’s in the past. I will follow up in a week or so to find out if there’s been a response from Caroline Spelman.