Minister received death threats for stance on cull
ENVIRONMENT Secretary Owen Paterson revealed he has had more death threats since he took office last year than he ever had when he was Northern Ireland Secretary.
The reason was the proposed pilot cull of badgers in two areas of the South West, now scheduled to take place in June as part of the Government's campaign against the spread of bovine tuberculosis, Mr Paterson told an audience in Tiverton on Friday.
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Owen Paterson addresses 80 farmers at the Tiverton Hotel on Friday marcus thompson EXMT20130125C-003_C.JPG
"There is a large element of public opinion which is completely against any sort of cull," he said.
But Mr Paterson, who was speaking at the Tiverton Hotel in front of 80 farmers from around the South West, was adamant that the six-week trial culls in West Somerset and around the Tewkesbury area would go ahead this year, having been postponed last autumn.
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Mr Paterson, who said he had once had a pet badger, said it was vital to "bear down" on TB in both cattle and wildlife. He had seen campaigns work successfully to stamp out bovine TB, by culling possums in New Zealand and White Tailed deer in Michigan – where there had been very considerable public opposition. And in Donegal in Ireland there had been a 96 per cent reduction in TB following a vigorous campaign with badgers.
He was not a "nasty brutish Government Minister culling badgers" he stressed.
"But we are heading for a bill of £1 billion for bovine TB, and we are idiots to pay for it when you look at Ireland and see what can be done. We simply cannot allow this disease to run rampant and destroy our cattle industry."
In 2011 a total of 26,000 cattle were destroyed because of TB, he stressed.
Answering questions, Mr Paterson pledged to investigate the situation where alpacas, which can catch and pass on the disease, were not subject to movement restrictions – and he pointed out that badger welfare should be stressed to members of the public concerned about the culls.
Mr Paterson said he was also very concerned about the spread of Schmallenberg Virus, carried by midges, which causes pregnant ewes and cows to abort their young or, in the case of sheep, to give birth to malformed lambs.
Only that morning he had heard "very depressing news" about its effects on cattle, but the Government was working hard with other nations to combat the virus, he said.
In a wide-ranging speech Mr Paterson focused on current moves to update the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, insisting it was the Government's wish to reduce red tape and the burden of unnecessary legislation on farmers.
Comments
by Clued-Up
Wednesday, January 30 2013, 10:04AM
“The mass opposition to the badger cull (around 90% voters are against it) should make Paterson realise he can't push it through; if he's any respect for democracy (which is questionable), he ought not even to try.
Paterson pretends the badger cull will reduce cattle bTB - the scientists and animal health experts have told him (and us) it won't. It'll be a dreadfully expensive further waste of tax-payers' money on a project they've rejected every time they've been asked for their opinions.”