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Badger cull go-ahead flies in the face of scientific evidence, says Labour Badger cull go-ahead flies in the face of scientific evidence, says Labour
(25 days later)
The government's decision to allow a cull of badgers, reportedly to combat bovine tuberculosis, "flies in the face of the scientific evidence" and will serve only to spread the disease, Labour claims.The government's decision to allow a cull of badgers, reportedly to combat bovine tuberculosis, "flies in the face of the scientific evidence" and will serve only to spread the disease, Labour claims.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has given the go-ahead for badgers to be shot in the two pilot areas of west Somerset and west Gloucestershire, for a six-week period expected to begin on Monday.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has given the go-ahead for badgers to be shot in the two pilot areas of west Somerset and west Gloucestershire, for a six-week period expected to begin on Monday.
But the shadow environment secretary, Mary Creagh, said that 250,000 people, (relating to signatures from one online petition to the government) including many eminent scientists, were opposing the cull. She said the move would prove bad for farmers, taxpayers and wildlife.But the shadow environment secretary, Mary Creagh, said that 250,000 people, (relating to signatures from one online petition to the government) including many eminent scientists, were opposing the cull. She said the move would prove bad for farmers, taxpayers and wildlife.
Writing on the Guardian's Comment is Free website, Creagh says: "The government's own analysis says that it will cost more than it saves, put a huge strain on police given the expected protests, and will spread bovine TB in the short term as badgers are disrupted by the shooting."Writing on the Guardian's Comment is Free website, Creagh says: "The government's own analysis says that it will cost more than it saves, put a huge strain on police given the expected protests, and will spread bovine TB in the short term as badgers are disrupted by the shooting."
Creagh said that Labour's £50m badger culling trial over 10 years had established that repeated culls were expensive and did not bring about sustained, long-term, reductions in the incidence of bovine TB.Creagh said that Labour's £50m badger culling trial over 10 years had established that repeated culls were expensive and did not bring about sustained, long-term, reductions in the incidence of bovine TB.
That, she says, is why the party instead favours the development of a vaccine to fight the disease.That, she says, is why the party instead favours the development of a vaccine to fight the disease.
"To bring this disease under control we need stricter management of cattle movements, and to prioritise badger and cattle vaccination," she writes. "Bovine TB is a terrible disease that must be stopped. This cull is not the way to do it.""To bring this disease under control we need stricter management of cattle movements, and to prioritise badger and cattle vaccination," she writes. "Bovine TB is a terrible disease that must be stopped. This cull is not the way to do it."
A Defra spokesperson said: "Bovine TB is spreading across England and devastating our cattle and dairy industries. In TB hot-spots such as Gloucestershire and Somerset we need to deal with the infection in badgers if we're to get a grip on TB there. No country has dealt with the disease without tackling infection in both wildlife and cattle."A Defra spokesperson said: "Bovine TB is spreading across England and devastating our cattle and dairy industries. In TB hot-spots such as Gloucestershire and Somerset we need to deal with the infection in badgers if we're to get a grip on TB there. No country has dealt with the disease without tackling infection in both wildlife and cattle."
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