The Tory-led Coalition Government’s cull of badgers is likely to start in a matter of days but it will be bad for farmers, bad for taxpayers and bad for wildlife.
The Tory-led Coalition Government’s cull of badgers is likely to start in a matter of days but it will be bad for farmers, bad for taxpayers and bad for wildlife.
The cull will be bad for farmers, as Defra’s impact assessment states: “For farmers in cull areas, monetised costs exceed expected monetised benefits.” Bad for the taxpayer, who will still pay for TB testing, monitoring, and issuing licences. Providing armed police to manage any public protest at cull sites, which the government estimates will cost taxpayers £500,000 per cull area per year to police. It will be bad for wildlife, as it could wipe out local badger populations, putting us in breach of the Bern Convention on wildlife protection.
In the short term culling could even spread bovine TB over a wider area, as badgers move to escape the shooting. We understand the frustration of the farming community and continue to support a science-led approach to dealing with the problems caused by the devastating impacts of bovine TB, however, a cull will not help resolve the issue.
The Tory-led Coalition Government has attempted to stress the importance of a multidimensional approach, however, after cancelling five of the six badger vaccines on taking office their commitment to the introduction of vaccination is questionable.
Labour believes that any solution to the terrible problem of bovine TB should be based on scientific fact, and should include a vaccination programme, and culling should be an action of last resort.