Government rejects badger cull

10:42am Friday 4th July 2008

The Government will not embark on a badger cull to tackle TB in cattle.

The BBC said farmers reacted angrily to news of the decision, which goes against the recommendations of the former Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir David King.

The National Farmers' Union claims bovine TB, which can be caught from badgers, has cost the industry millions.

But there is disagreement over how effective a badger cull could be, with the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) which conducted a 10 year study into culling concluding it could not "meaningfully contribute" to controlling TB.

Sir David, who was asked to review the study, drew different conclusions from the research, suggesting that a cull "could make a significant contribution to the control of cattle TB in those areas of England were there is a high and persistent incidence of TB in cattle".

Areas particularly badly hit by Bovine TB include south west England, south west Wales, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

In February, a committee of MPs said badger culling should be given the go-ahead to tackle TB in cattle in areas at high risk of the disease - but only under certain conditions.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee (Efra) said farmers - must accept it would not form a cornerstone of Government policy. The committee said a cull would not be a suitable method of controlling the disease in cattle, which can catch it from badgers, in all areas and could not be applied nationwide.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said at the time he would study the report before making a decision but warned there was "no simple solution".

The NFU's president Peter Kendall told the BBC that the government had "ducked the issue" and said the union would protest outside parliament next week.

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