COMMENTS by former government adviser Dr Chris Cheeseman about the effectiveness of a badger cull, saying it would be perverse, are the culmination of years of allowing a disease to get out of control.

In his time with Defra it stopped the culling control for the numbers of badgers in infected areas while at the same time testing for TB was reduced, so the badger population rose dramatically in infected areas. TB has spread with badger overpopulation, producing an imbalance with nature.

Presumably the government of the time was looking for shortsighted cost cuts, which have eluded them.

The only policy that has been put forward by what was his department is a very costly untested inoculation program. Having allowed TB to become so dominant in large areas it is going to be very costly to turn the tide on its inevitable march.

Dr Cheeseman's comments fly against the evidence produced with a cull of badgers and testing of cattle in Ireland, where reinfection rates dropped dramatically compared to England's 85 per cent-plus.

If culling with long-term trapping is said not to work by scientists, how do they expect a vaccination program to succeed if they cannot cover the population properly for a cull?

Although costly, I would have thought an inoculation program for the boundary areas and a cull of infected areas would be the best option. It would be cheaper in the long term than waiting five years or so to see how effective the vaccination is.

Culling in the infected areas could not be just for a short duration, but over the long term, with no preservation of badgers in these areas.

The country has a problem with its trade balance and we need to produce both dairy and meat products for jobs and for the health of the populace; otherwise our present level of population will not be sustainable against expenditure.

As a parallel, if one looks at the ministry and the way it has handled the fish stocks in our waters compared with Iceland, it gives one little confidence that it will make the right decisions for TB, let alone agriculture as a whole.

Peter Weedy

Kingsbridge

EU pays the piper

THE Guardian recently carried an article headlined "Do climate change sceptics give scepticism a bad name?". It was written by a research assistant from Cardiff University said to be interested in "the psychology of communicating climate change".

He trots out the usual mantras of the global warming religion and ridicules recent criticisms, following the "Climategate" scandal, of the International Panel on Climate Change Fourth Report issued in 2007.

Closer examination reveals that Cardiff University is a partner in the European Union-funded g1.68 million project PACHELBEL, with terms of reference to research "consumer behaviour in relation to climate change". So much for a personal interest in "the psychology of communicating climate change"; the author is a paid servant of the EU!

Peter Wyatt

Totnes

Dispenser safeguard

I UNDERSTAND that portable cash boxes as used by security companies when collecting and delivering cash contain a device which sprays dye over the interior if an attempt is made to open the box unlawfully.

Surely, to prevent raids like the one at Hatherleigh featured on your February 22 front page, something similar can be fitted to cash dispensers and activated if the machine is moved out of its fixing in the wall.

Stuart Chislett

South Molton

Civilised choice

WITH the election looming and increasing difficulty in distinguishing any difference in policy between the three main parties, information I have just received may be of interest to members of the majority of voters – 75 per cent according to latest opinion polls – who agree with the League Against Cruel Sports' aim to "Make Cruelty History" by supporting the Hunting Act; I am a life member of the league.

Our Liberal Democrat MP, Dan Rogerson, has pledged to retain the Hunting Act, as have 89 per cent of his party, but the Conservative candidate for his seat, Sian Flynn, says she wants to repeal this Act – 11 per cent of her party do not. I haven't ascertained the Labour candidate's views, but am sure they agree with 99 per cent of the party's, Mr Rogerson's, and mine.

I am not a bigot or an animal rights fanatic – I just think hunting is one of those things civilised people don't do, and would prefer a civilised person as my MP.

Mrs M Withers

Launceston

Thwarted helper

IN a recent letter Councillor Fiona Ferguson requested assistance from Liberal Democrats in suggesting savings for Cornwall Council's budget. I very much wanted to get involved, and in November 2009 requested the relevant papers being used by the Tories in setting the budget.

The financial director, Peter Lewis, saw no problem in providing this, and I was gobsmacked when Alec Robertson, the Conservative leader of the council, vetoed my request.

So, Fiona, we'd love to help – but can you demand that Alec stops hiding information from councillors, Press and public?

Ann Kerridge

Bodmin