Nia Griffith MP has once again stood up in parliament and questioned Owen Paterson MP, the Conservative Secretary of State for the Envrionment, on why he is insisting on continuing with the two badger culls in Gloucester and Somerset, which have failed spectacularly. The IEP report, published on Thursday, revealed the pilot culls had failed even more comprehensively than previously thought. New, more robust estimates of the proportion of badgers killed within the initial six-week limit found that fewer than 39% of those in Gloucestershire had been shot and fewer than 48% in Somerset – far short of the 70% minimum needed to be effective and fewer than earlier estimates from Paterson’s department. Nia asked the Secretary of State why he did not transfer the resources that are being wasted on a second round of culling into the vital research that needs to be done on finding the right kinds of testing and vaccination.
Only three weeks ago in debate, Nia urged the UK Government to follow the example of the Welsh Government, which is implementing a sustained attack on TB through measures such as strengthening biosecurity, Cymorth TB – support for farmers, improving animal husbandry and badger vaccination.
You can read that speech here