Badgers win eleventh hour reprieve

The Welsh Assembly Government has today agreed to postpone the badger cull pending the Court of Appeal’s consideration of a challenge to the cull’s legality. The force in The Badger Trust’s scientific arguments informed the postponement decision. Earlier this week the Trust was granted permission to take its case to the Court of Appeal by Lord Justice Elias who noted that the Trust had real prospects of success and ordered an urgent hearing of the matter. He also ordered a protective costs regime to assist the Trust to take the case forward. The expedited hearing will take place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 30th June 2010. For further details about the legal issues under appeal see 'Legal Issues' [menu, left].

Gwendolen Morgan of London law firm Bindmans LLP represents the Trust. She said today:

“We are pleased that the Minister has agreed to postpone the cull pending the outcome of the appeal. To have proceeded with this costly, ill-conceived cull before hearing what the Court of Appeal had to say would have amounted to evasion of the due process of judicial scrutiny.”

“The success of the Badger Trust’s application to appeal to the Court of Appeal calls into question the Minister’s plans to embark on this cull, which is likely to do more harm than good in terms of TB reduction. Indeed, although it has largely passed under the radar, new cattle-focused measures are already beginning to make an impact in Wales and TB rates are quietly falling. The Badger Trust hopes that the Assembly Government will take this opportunity to pause for thought.”

David Williams, Chairman of the Badger Trust, said:

"The Badger Trust welcomes the Minister’s decision to postpone the cull.

Recently, groups in favour of a cull have claimed that cattle might be protected from TB several years after the end of culling. However, in response to a request from the Badger Trust, the authors whose study was used to make this claim have pointed out that, even in a best-case scenario, benefits would have to remain at their current level for at least eleven years after the culling  before they even caught up with the costs of slaughtering badgers. It is extraordinarily unlikely that the modest benefits would last so long. These calculations [see 'The Science' , menu left] highlight the foolishness of embarking on a badger cull at a time when government is being forced to cut public spending." 

Brian May, supporter of the Badger Trust, and Queen guitarist has written in support of the appeal. See 'Brian's Soapbox' [menu, left]