Badger lobby accuses Labour of ‘betrayal’ on culling

Wildlife and nature campaigners have accused the Labour government of a “huge betrayal” over its plans to allow badger culling to continue in England as part of efforts to tackle bovine TB.

Dominic Dyer, a wildlife protection campaigner and former chief executive of the Badger Trust, said Labour spent 13 years in opposition, “talking boldly” about how it would end the cull.

But now the party has regained power, it has pledged to end culling within five years while it develops a new strategy to eradicate bovine TB. The move has led to accusations of a policy U-turn.

See also: Defra switch to vaccination in bid to end badger culling

“The Labour party, frankly, has got itself in a mess of its own making on this issue,” said Mr Dyer, who was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Buckingham and Bletchley at the General Election in July.

“Labour even put in its manifesto the cull was ‘ineffective’. It built up expectations that it would end the cull, but now it could continue until 2029.”

London demo

Mr Dyer was speaking out as wildlife and nature campaigners gathered at Westminster on Tuesday 3 September for a demonstration led by the Badger Trust against the government’s ongoing badger cull.

Campaigners, including Chris Packham, Dale Vince, and Dr Mark Jones, were due to speak at the event.

Defra secretary Steve Reed previously confirmed that Labour will allow pre-existing badger culling licences to continue until 2026.

The Badger Trust estimates that up to 100,000 more badgers could be removed between now and the end of 2025 under the current cull policy.

While work continues on a BCG cattle vaccine and the associated “Diva” diagnostic test, the government will use a “data-led and scientific approach to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament”.

Although many farmers and most farming organisations strongly support the continuation of the cull, wildlife campaigners argue that the focus should be on cattle-based measures and biosecurity.

Mr Dyer argues that efforts should focus on improved testing methods and biosecurity measures rather than badger culling or vaccination. Dyer has also criticised plans for a large-scale badger vaccination programme as economically unviable and lacking farmer support.

Defra latest

Farmers Weekly understands there are discussions within Defra about the possibility of asking Professor Sir Charles Godfray to conduct a new independent review of the government’s 25-year bovine TB eradication programme for England.

Defra farming minister Daniel Zeichner said: “Bovine tuberculosis has devastated British farmers and wildlife for far too long. It has placed dreadful hardship and stress on farmers who continue to suffer the loss of valued herds, and has taken a terrible toll on our badger populations.

“No more. Our comprehensive TB eradication package will allow us to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament and stop the spread of this horrific disease.”