The Isolationist » Commentary

Limp Response From Jack Straw

chris — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:13:15 +0000

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.

Badger Culls – #fail

chris — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:04:51 +0000

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.

Reflections on 7 Years of The Isolationist

chris — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:22:33 +0000

In August 2003 I started a blog called The Isolationist. Since then it has come and gone, transformed into a forum for ex-Coldharbour Road inmates; transformed again into a content management system; disappeared entirely; re-appeared briefly with guest-posts from my friends (Caroline and Thomas); disappeared again (being replaced with the suitably melodramatic play on The Isolationist’s subtitle – ‘Because life is pain, too painful to carry on’); and now that I’m blogging regularly for my business, I’ve started it up. Again. It’s tenacious.

I set The Isolationist up originally when I was on the cusp of moving from Bristol to Portsmouth as a way of keeping in touch with friends. As I set it up again, I’m on the cusp of another adventure, this time to the north. Blackburn. Home of the lovely Jo and her daughter Kayley who now form the centre of my world.

I’ve written much in the past and it seems a shame to lose it all, but these days content is cheap so I’ll edit, curate and file to oblivion what doesn’t have at least some merit. Always look to the future. A future of a coalition government that requires much attention. A future of technology; I am a massive geek after all. Most of all a future of family, happiness and maybe some business success.

I’ll talk about that lot along the way, as long as I get an hour here and there.