Badgering Spelman

The stars must be crossed for Caroline Spelman. First came the forests, then the bin collection fiasco, then the circus animals and now the FT’s Jim Pickard has news that the Cabinet will meet in mid-July to discuss whether to start a badger cull in the south-west. Badgers are one of those perennial issues of contention. As Pickard says:

‘It’s one of those classic issues where both sides have a highly convincing argument. The farmers (who have, I’m told, offered to underwrite the killing) believe that badgers have caused bovine TB among cattle herds and are pushing hard for the cull. But the animal welfare people want vaccination instead. They say there is insufficient scientific evidence for the cull working; and that it could be counter-productive. (As diseased badgers flee licensed gunmen they could carry TB into other areas).’

The problem is that there is no right answer, which leaves Spelman to sell the Cabinet’s choice between the interests of impecunious livestock farmers, who DEFRA has pledged to assist in its Natural Environment White Paper, and the squeamish wider public. It’s an unenviable decision.

The constant negativity surrounding Spelman shrouds her achievements. She is hugely respected in Europe, which has an effect on the government’s ability to gain a favourable deal on the Common Fisheries Policy and mount an unprecedentedly large movement to reform the Common Agricultural Policy. As James has noted, the explanation for her mercurial performance appears to be that she has been ‘house-trained’ by her civil servants.