National Farmers’ Union, which tends to be dominated by big landowners, possesses an inordinate share of power in Britain. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs gives the NFU everything it asks for, resisting European attempts to cap the amount of subsidies a landowner can receive, scrapping the Agricultural Wages Board, trying to prevent a partial ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, commissioning a badger cull that flies in the face of scientific evidence. Large landowners still throng the benches of the House of Lords and are over-represented in the Commons. This conversation, recorded on 6th Sept, involves a number of officers from West Mercia police and people monitoring the badger cull. By the time it begins, part of the group had been detained by the police but not arrested, on suspicion of aggravated trespass. They deny the charge, insisting that they had stayed on a public footpath – See also … fleurcom.org/blog/conservation-definition-and-advocates/
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 01:09:32 +0000