The Beeb is developing a habit of being the news rather than making it – and the upcoming release of Sir Brian May’s badger documentary this Friday is no exception. The public service broadcaster has been slammed for allowing a BBC 2 programme to air after it emerged that the Queen guitarist will this week release a tell-all about badger culling. In the show, the longtime animal rights activist will attempt to make the argument that killing badgers to stop the spread of TB is like, er, burning witches to ‘protect your crops’. May has warned viewers that his findings are ‘pretty shocking’, adding the story ‘will outrage viewers more than anything since the Post Office scandal’. Crikey…
The practice of badger culling was permitted in England by David Cameron’s government some ten years ago. The Tories made the move to contain the spread of the malicious bovine TB, a chronic lung condition that can also spread to humans and indeed did so before milk pasteurisation became a widespread practice. The insidious illness has devastated farmers’ livelihoods, with affected animals destroyed in order stem the disease spread. Yet while numerous information sites claim that the links between badgers, cattle and TB have been ‘proven beyond doubt’, Sir Brian believes the opposite is true. Instead of killing badgers, May blames livestock slurry (a mixture used to boost soil health) for the illness – and suggests that ending the cull and encouraging farmers to practise better ‘herd hygiene’ is the solution to the crisis. The farming world, however, is getting rather furious about the film…
Former Top Gear star-turned-farm guru Jeremy Clarkson has attacked Sir Brian for his badger-loving tendencies after the creatures wreaked agricultural havoc on him. ‘These are not nice animals,’ Clarkson fumed. ‘Do not be fooled by Brian May.’ May hit back on Sunday, calling Clarkson’s badger-hate ‘laughable’ and adding: ‘I don’t think it’s Jeremy Clarkson’s fault because he doesn’t know – he’s a newcomer to this situation.’ Ouch.
And May has managed to rather ruffle the feathers of Countryside Alliance CEO Tim Bonner too, who sent BBC director Tim Davie a strongly-worded letter last week about the looming deep-dive. Blasting Sir Brian, Bonner raged that the public service broadcaster shouldn’t have commissioned the show in the first place ‘precisely because of his partisan activism and the profile he has built for himself surrounding it’. The Countryside Alliance boss pointed to how Laura Kuenssberg was forced to apologise to viewers after a 2015 Newsnight episode after May described those who disagreed with his approach to wildlife management as ‘lying bastards’. Bonner went on to slam the decision to proceed with the programme as ‘fundamentally incompatible with the BBC’s obligation to be impartial’. Not like the Beeb to be biased, eh?
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