Badgers threatening farm industry – MP Daniel Kawczynski
Thousands of dairy farmers will go out of business unless the Government presses ahead with its highly-controversial plans for a badger cull, Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski has claimed.
Appearing on Newsnight last night, the Tory MP said problems caused by badgers spreading bovine TB were leading to ‘devastation and misery’ for farmers who have to slaughter infected cattle.
His comments come after more than 100,000 people signed a petition calling on the Government to stop plans for a trial cull of thousands of badgers in Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Mr Kawczynski said: “I have to say representing a very rural constituency like Shrewsbury, I have sat on many occasions with farmers in their kitchens and seen grown men cry when all of their herds have been slaughtered and the devastation this causes to farmers and the community is of the most profound nature.”
He added: “We have a duty and responsibility to ensure England does continue to have a dairy industry. Unless we take these steps, thousands of farmers will go out of business.”
Mr Kawczynski said he was pleased new environment secretary and fellow Shropshire MP Owen Paterson is ‘very committed’ to the strategy. “I and other rural MPs will insist the Government fulfils its obligations,” he said.
But wildlife presenter Bill Oddie, who is opposing the cull, told the programme the Government were showing ‘considerable ignorance and arrogance’.
Mr Kawczynski said: “I say to Bill Oddie that you spend some time in my constituency to meet some of my Shropshire dairy farmers and see some of the devastation and misery they are going through as a result of a lack of action by the previous Labour administration for many years.”
If the trial cull is deemed successful, the Government said it could be rolled out across England in future.
Comments for: "Badgers threatening farm industry – MP Daniel Kawczynski"
Roger
Thousands of Dairy Farmers will go out of business if the milk price situation is not corrected so following Tory logic if the Badgers force the production of milk down the price of milk will rise and the rest of the Dairy Farmers will be saved from bankruptcy.
So as far as Farmers are concerned the Badger is doing more for them than the government. The natural adjustment of market by market forces. Badger are better economists than tories. LOL
C.J Hamps
I think supermarket monopolisation of the grocery market is a bigger threat to farmers. Perhaps Kawczynski could legislate on that.
Paul Thomas
Do these farmers cry every time their cattle are sent to an abattoir to be killed for meat?
Me thinks not.
BrockStripes
‘I think the most interesting observation was made to me by a senior politician who said, “fine John we accept your science, but we have to offer the farmers a carrot. And the only carrot we can possibly give them is culling badgers”.’
Professor John Bourne
(Chair of the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) on bTB)"
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38257
Dave
Where is the scientific evidence?
WAF founder-director Simon Cowell MBE said: “Since the first cull licences were issued last week, there has been a lot of anger from people on both sides of the debate, and it’s not getting us very far. Most discussions in the media and in political forums are generating more heat than light! It is high time we sat down and looked at the facts.”
Simon says that WAF is against the cull and has taken this position not just because of its concern for wildlife welfare and conservation but also because “the science doesn’t support the need for a cull”. He explained: “The ‘evidence base’ that the Government is using is very flimsy indeed. If we can have a sensible debate about this, the weaknesses of the case for a cull will be shown up.”
Jezebel
No theres a first, a politician blaming a previous regime for the mess we are in!!!!!!!!!!! Stereotypical plebs the lot of them or should I not use the word ??!!!
I have never heard so much crap come out of one persons mouth, this is all about saving money nothing else.
Mr Kawzynski & Mr Patterson are there to represent all people not just farmers, then again it is easyer to take on badgers than supermarkets as they do not fight back.
If there is to be a cull I would start with these two MP for the crap they come out with.
tugboat
we have 1000's of people just pouring into this tiny country on a daily basis causing complete chaos to our already over stretched communities, and our mp talks of badgers. No wonder, nobody votes any more !!
Sharon
There is a chart on this website, that breaks down the reasons for culling dairy cows - http://www.shropshirestar.com/farming/farming-news/2012/09/11/farming-talk-effective-plan-offers-help-to-cut-lameness/
According to this, ALL forms of disease, not just bTB, account for only 3.7percent of animals culled. Mastitis, on the other hand, a condition largely caused by the breeding of unnaturally high milk producing animals, accounts for 23 percent of animals culled.
Seems to me the badger is being made a scapegoat, and greed seems to be the motive.
Huw Peach
Imagine an alternative headline:
'Thousands of dairy farmers will go out of business unless the 'greenest government ever' presses ahead with its popular plans to vaccinate herds against TB, take on the supermarkets and ensure a fair price for milk.'
'The price should be one which ensures the sustainability of the UK dairy industry, and which reflects the true cost of production and vaccination.'
CALL OFF THE CULL
Answer to bTb= vaccination and medical treatment, alonside high welfare for
cattle
and good biosecurity.
A healthy population of badgers is NOT achieved by culling healthy badgers.
Also................
Positive reactors to the cattle bTb test could be medically treated, and allowed to
develop immunity.
Instead of slaughtered;.............. ofcourse its upsetting to farmers.
Are EU rules to blame ?
CALL OFF THE CULL
Look after our wildlife please
Susie
I am so very tired of supposedly intelligent and educated people endlessly, and completely illogically, claiming that if only people realised the suffering that farmers and cattle go through as a result of bovine TB, they would not be against killing badgers. The entire point is that virtually all the peer-reviewed SCIENCE to date has shown that killing badgers cannot solve, or even significantly reduce, bovine TB in cattle - and in fact may even increase the incidence. Why do the pro-cull lobby refuse to acknowledge the science? Why do they refuse to listen to virtually ALL the respected scientists in this field? Anything to do with not wanting to acknowledge and tackle the problems caused by intensive farming? (And there are plenty of those apart from TB).
If pro-cull farmers or politicians really care about either cattle or wildlife, or indeed the suffering of affected farmers, they should be looking at the measures that have been shown to work - namely, cattle control measures (as in Wales) - and not endlessly calling for yet more badger killing which has been shown, over and over and over again, NOT to work.
Also it would be great if we could drop all this town/country rubbish about only ignorant urbanites being against culling. The proportion of those against the cull (always the majority) is virtually the same in town and country polling samples. I've lived in the country all my life.