Badger Cull

2012: A People Powered Year

John Coventry | Posted 26.02.2013 | UK Politics
John Coventry

As a memorable year draws to a close, I thought we'd get in the end-of-year-review spirit and look at some of the biggest people-powered campaigns of 2012.

Parliamentary Vote Opposes Badger Cull Proposal

Henry Smith MP | Posted 30.12.2012 | UK Politics
Henry Smith MP

There are three principle reasons why I was one of those Members to ask a House of Commons business scheduling committee for a debate on the proposed badger cull and why spoke and voted against a cull in the debate I secured on the floor of the House last Thursday.

Badgers Still Set to Suffer From a Lack of Democracy

Mark Jones | Posted 26.12.2012 | UK Politics
Mark Jones

It is difficult to understand why the government would pursue a policy which has been roundly discredited, which will make it extremely unpopular, and which will certainly be disastrous for the public image of farmers.

Richard Benyon's Bad Science - How Data is Ignored by DEFRA

Shaughan Dolan | Posted 23.12.2012 | UK Politics
Shaughan Dolan

The Minister for Rural Affairs has had an incredible year for ill thought-out policy u-turns.

Controversial Badger Cull To Be Delayed

PA/Huffington Post UK | Posted 23.10.2012 | UK

The badger cull is set to be delayed after questions over the cost and effectiveness of the scheme. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is expecte...

'It Would Be A Terrible Mistake'

The Huffington Post UK | Tahira Mirza | Posted 20.10.2012 | UK

"If I were a farmer I would be very upset about having to kill my animals prematurely because of a disease that is out of control, but it's not the ba...

Is the Badger Act Being Sabotaged?

Giles Bradshaw | Posted 13.12.2012 | UK Politics
Giles Bradshaw

What the RSPCA is doing amounts to a back door attempt to sabotage the Badger Act. This blog tries to explain the circumstances that have lead to this situation and to embarrass senior executives in the RSPCA into reversing their position.

Badger Cull Facts And Figures

PA | Posted 14.10.2012 | UK

Here are some key facts and figures surrounding the debate over controversial plans for a badger cull to tackle bovine tuberculosis (TB). Figures come...

Top Scientists Say Badger Cull Will Increase Cattle TB, Not Reduce It

PA | Posted 14.10.2012 | UK Politics

A group of professors from leading universities and zoological institutions across the UK have urged the Government to reconsider controversial plans ...

'Humans Are Not the Only Important Species on This Planet' - A Q&A With Queen's Brian May

Hannah Gal | Posted 25.11.2012 | UK Entertainment
Hannah Gal

As his badger cull e-petition reaches the 100,000 signatures milestone and the BBC report a 'reconsideration' of the proposed cull as a result, Brian May's sense of achievement has reached a particularly gratifying personal high.

Badger Campaigners Could Trigger Commons Debate On Cull

PA | Posted 24.09.2012 | UK

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition against a cull of badgers to tackle tuberculosis in cattle, in a bid to prompt a parliamentary debate ...

The Problem Isn't Badgers, It's (Politically Led?) Bad Science

Hilary Burrage | Posted 19.11.2012 | UK Politics
Hilary Burrage

National Farmers' Union and the majority of farmers - but not all - may believe that badger culls will do the trick, and a lot of politicians want to keep the farmers onside. And it will probably pay electoral dividends for a while. But longer term this 'solution' is could even make things worse...

Badger Campaigners Vow to Fight On After Court Defeat

PA | Posted 11.09.2012 | UK

A challenge to culls which will kill thousands of badgers has failed at the Court of Appeal. The Badger Trust had attacked Mr Justice Ouseley's dec...

Badger Cull Challenge Fails

PA/The Huffington Post UK | Posted 11.09.2012 | UK

A challenge to culls which will kill thousands of badgers has failed at the Court of Appeal. The Badger Trust had attacked Mr Justice Ouseley's dec...

Opposition Mounts Over Badger Cull

PA/Huffington Post UK | Posted 11.09.2012 | UK

The fate of thousands of badgers is hanging by a thread as an appeal was heard against proposals for two pilot culls on Tuesday. Mr Justice Ousele...

Badgers - Let's Cure Not Kill

Violet Donohoe | Posted 09.11.2012 | UK Politics
Violet Donohoe

Our countryside could soon be peppered with the bodies of badgers, if the government's proposed cull of badgers goes ahead as planned in large areas of west Somerset and west Gloucestershire.

Stop the Cull - Save the Badger

Mark Jones | Posted 09.11.2012 | UK Politics
Mark Jones

No one denies that TB in cattle is a serious problem. It results in the premature slaughter of many thousands of cattle each year, with devastating impacts for farmers, and at a huge cost to the taxpayer in testing, inspection and compensation. But killing badgers isn't going to reduce TB in cattle.

Why Was A Large Man Dressed As A Badger Spotted At Westminster?

The Huffington Post UK | Posted 29.04.2012 | UK Politics

Naturalist Bill Oddie took a man dressed up as a badger to Westminster on Tuesday morning to protest at the government's decision to cull the animals....

Badger Cull: Doing Nothing is Not an Acceptable Option

Jim Paice | Posted 01.04.2012 | UK Politics
Jim Paice

Nobody wants to cull badgers. But equally no country in the world where wildlife carries TB has been able to eradicate the disease in cattle without tackling it in wildlife too.

Twenty Years on From the Protection of Badgers Act, Britain's Badgers Face an Uncertain Future

Mark Jones | Posted 25.03.2012 | UK Politics
Mark Jones

As we welcome in 2012, ironically the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act, hard times loom for Britain's badgers.

Activists Vow To Protect This Little Fella

PA | Posted 14.12.2011 | UK Politics

Animal welfare campaigners have vowed to fight badger culling in England after trials were given the go-ahead by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelma...

Watch Out, Caroline Spelman's About...

pa | Posted 12.02.2012 | UK Politics

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman is to announce further plans to tackle bovine TB in badgers. In July the Government revealed controversial p...

Culling Plan 'Good For Badgers'

PA | Posted 18.12.2011 | UK Politics

Shooting tuberculosis-infected badgers is good for other badgers, an MP has said.  Conservative Simon Hart believed a cull of the ...

Who is the Party of the Countryside?

Dylan Sharpe | Posted 03.12.2011 | UK Politics
Dylan Sharpe

Once upon a time that question was met with ridicule; the poser rendered a fool simply by having the temerity to ask it.

Badger Cull Proposals Set To Become Political Spat

The Huffington Post UK | George Sandeman | Posted 19.10.2011 | UK Politics

The Labour Party's announcement that they want the government to review its decision to cull badgers suggests the animals' fate is about to become a p...