Badger cull bill of £466,000 is money well spent, says Owen Paterson
Police costs of almost half a million pounds to deal with the controversial badger cull across the border in Gloucestershire was money well spent, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson insisted today.
West Mercia Police spent £466,961 in helping officers in Gloucestershire deal with protesters.
The money will be refunded, but will still be coming from the public purse through central government funds.
North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has spoken of his determination to continue with the badger cull, with a possible introduction in Shropshire this year.
And today he called on people to look at the bigger picture and consider the benefits the badger cull brings to farmers.
Mr Paterson spoke after Barrie Sheldon, deputy police and crime commissioner for West Mercia, revealed the cost of a joint operation with Gloucestershire Police.
The MP said: "The impact bovine TB is having on our farmers and taxpayers greatly outweighs the costs of the badger cull pilots that have taken place in Gloucestershire and Somerset. Bovine TB has cost the taxpayer £500 million in the past 10 years, and costs could reach £1 billion over the next decade if the disease is left unchecked.
"Up to January last year 305,000 otherwise healthy cattle had to be slaughtered.
"Since January to the end of October a further 27,474 otherwise perfectly healthy cattle have had to be hauled off to be slaughtered. This disease costs us £100 million a year and we are heading towards £1 billion."
Barrie Sheldon, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, released the costs after Gloucestershire police and crime commissioner Martin Surl revealed his force had spent £1.7 million. A similar pilot cull in Somerset cost Avon and Somerset Police £738,985.
Mr Sheldon said: "West Mercia policed the cull as a joint operation with Gloucestershire Constabulary because small parts of the northern cull zone were in Herefordshire and Worcestershire where the cull boundary crosses the county borders. As the Government has promised to pay for these costs, there will be no cost to local council taxpayers. The operation also had no effect on local policing."
The Government and farmers believe culling is necessary to control tuberculosis in cattle, which can catch the disease from badgers, but opponents say it will not be an effective solution and is inhumane. Neither pilot managed to kill the 70 per cent of the badger population thought to be needed. In Somerset 65 per cent of the badger population was killed and in Gloucestershire the figure was 40 per cent.
