29 May 2024
A campaigner who is planning legal action over current plans for future bTB control policy believes a shift may be accelerated when voters head to the polls.
Allister Webb
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Image © Martin Mecnarowski / Adobe Stock
A prominent critic of bTB controls in England has claimed the forthcoming general election could herald the “beginning of the end” of controversial badger culling practices.
Opponents of new Defra policy proposals, which could enable culling to continue indefinitely in some areas, have threatened legal action over what they regard as a flawed consultation process.
But farmers’ leaders have warned against complacency, insisting the programme remains a vital part of the fight against the disease.
Although the future of bTB policy has been disputed for some time, the announcement of the 4 July poll has only deepened the uncertainty because of divisions between the two main parties on the issue.
While the Conservatives remain supportive of the practice, which has been deployed across large parts of England in 2013, Labour politicians have indicated they will abandon it if they enter government.
The party already runs bTB control policy in Wales, where large-scale culling is not used.
Although Defra launched a consultation on its current policy proposals in March, questions were soon raised about the handling of the process.
But while he is still waiting for the department’s lawyers to respond to his intention to mount a legal challenge, independent scientist Tom Langton is hopeful that change may now be around the corner.
He said: “This looks very much more than the beginning of the end.
“The new government will need to focus on how to lower the rates of transmission of bovine TB, much as was done with COVID in humans.
“This will bring tough times for the beef and dairy industry, but it has to be done to interrupt the dependency on public subsidy and to stop the wide range of collateral damage to rural life and the environment that it has caused in recent decades.”
But, as it submitted its consultation response, NFU president Tom Bradshaw argued that new analysis by government scientists had demonstrated the “vital” role of culling in combatting the disease.
He said: “While cattle vaccination trials are underway, we’re not there yet and we mustn’t be complacent.
“A swift response to the consultation is essential to avoid stagnation in the current trajectory of bTB eradication and we look forward to hearing from the Government.”
A spokesman for Defra said individual parties would need to comment on their bTB positions in the pre-election period, and it could not comment on ongoing legal challenges.
