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The man who spearheaded an investigation into the BSE crisis has called for the government’s Farming Minister “to consider his position,” calling a report into Gloucestershire’s badger cull ‘fake science’ and ‘barefaced lies.’

The veterinary surgeon and Director of Prion Interest Group, said: “badger culls should stop today; if one more badger is killed it’s a travesty.”

Dr Iain McGill has publicly ‘called out’ Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) for “making misleading statements” about the levels of Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in counties like Gloucestershire.

The comments have come to light on the eve of publication of the Godfrey report.

The report is an independent review, set up by Environment Secretary Michael Gove, into Defra's efforts to control bTB.

What the letter said.

In a letter to Chief Vet, Christine Middlemiss, Dr McGill's campaign group requested that she go to ministers and get them to retract untruthful statements.

They claim the government are “lying about the success rate of their skin test, and telling more lies to cover it up.”

'Badger culling hasn't worked'

“We’ve absolutely had enough; we will not have our reputation besmirched by this thoroughly fake science.”

He claims the issue of bTB “will never go away under current plans, forget 2038, the government could spend 38 millennia and it will never go away.”

(Image: PA)

Dr McGill claims: “the levels of bTB were falling three years before the cull began; as soon as the culling started the levels plateau.

“Badger culling absolutely hasn’t worked, the government need to call it off, stop lying and stop hiding behind the pseudo-science.

“We have the data to show that there is a huge spike in bTB in Gloucestershire” since the cull began.

He claims that there had been a 29 per cent increase in the number of cattle herds under restriction since the cull began, which is contrary to the conclusion made by government minister George Eustice MP.

What Defra has said

A Defra statement said: "The latest statistics showed reductions in new outbreaks of bovine TB in the initial cull areas, an encouraging sign that the steps we have taken have had a positive impact.

"Based on this scientific data, Minister Eustice was absolutely correct to describe this progress as encouraging."

'Badger culling is essential'

The National Farmers Union said: “Badger culling is an essential part of the government’s 25-year plan to ride the countryside, including Gloucestershire, of the scourge of bTB.”

In September when the report was published, George Eustice MP said: "Reductions in new outbreaks of bTB have been recorded in Gloucestershire and Somerset following the completion of their licensed for-year badger culls.

"Today's figures showing reductions in TB cases in Gloucestershire are evidence that our strategy dealing with this slow-moving, insidious disease is delivering results.

(Image: Newcastle Journal)

"No one wants to be culling badgers forever, so the progress is encouraging."

Data published in a report by Defra at the time talks of the Gloucestershire cull area. TB incidence has fallen from 10.4 per cent before culling started to 5.6 per cent in year four of the cull.

It also states the progress that is being made in delivering the 25-year TB eradication strategy in England to rid farmers of the impacts of this disease.

Major reform' is needed.

Dr McGill suggests a major reform of the dairy industry is required, saying: "It's a dairy problem. Dairy cows are dangerously inbred and have little resistance to infections.”

He also suggests vaccination, similar to a basic BCG, as a solution to reduce bTB “by 60 to 70 per cent at a stroke.”

But claims that it is “far more important to vaccinate cattle than badgers.

“Badgers do not give tuberculosis to cattle. No wildlife can give tuberculosis to cattle. It’s a complete myth.”

What has been the response?

A spokesman for the National Farmers Union said: "Badger culling is an essential part of the government’s agenda."

NFU South West David George said: "We need to use every method available to get in top of bovine TB.

"Badger culling is an essential part of the Government's 25-year programme to rid the countryside, including Gloucestershire, of the scourge of bTB, alongside a stringent cattle testing and slaughter programme which saw 1,345 animals slaughtered in the country up to July 2018."

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

NFU President Minette Batters has written in a post on the NFU wesbite claiming that: "Dealing with the disease has cost the taxpayer £500 million in England in the last decade and is estimated the cost will rise to £1 billion over the next 10 years.

"This is clearly unsustainable and is why we need a comprehensive plan that deals with this disease on all fronts.

"Such a plan already exists. The Government's 25-year TB eradication strategy is the first we have had to tackle this disease in England."

Have badger culls worked in Gloucestershire?

In Gloucestershire, and other areas where bTB is rife, the NFU President wrote that: "Research has shown that up to one in three badgers have it."

"It is wrong to suggest we will never conclusively know if culling badgers can have a positive impact on controlling bTB in cattle in areas where the disease is endemic. Previous trials have already shown that it can."

"No one is saying badger culling alone will solve the problem of bTB. Just like no one is saying badger vaccination alone will solve the problem. To have any chance of controlling and eradicating it we have to use all available options at the same time."

However, Dr McGill does not agree with the NFU and said: “They have been told a whole lot of codswallop for 50 years, so it’s not surprising they believe it.

“Farmers are being hemmed in on all sides. They produce milk 365 days a year, selling it sometimes for less than it costs to produce. They are under immense economic pressure, they go TB free then it comes back so they want someone to blame.

(Image: BBC)

“It’s all a myth, it is a cow disease. It is spread between cows but the government doesn’t want to admit that.

“The government says its badgers, so they organise armed gangs to go kill them. But I understand it.

“They should be livid with the government and they should be livid with Defra; they have been lied to.”

“They are lying to farmers they are lying to the public, and they are lying to parliament – which is a serious offence.”

A Gloucestershire campaign group echoed the calls for 'the immediate cessation to all culling of badgers in response to the recent expose of Defra.'

Gloucestershire Badger Office Chairman Lynn Sawyer said:"The whole thing is a complete red herring."

Lynn says her group have witnessed 'awful' things in the field, including 'sett blocking and badgers being culled in areas not even designated as badger cull zones.'

She claims that in one instance: "The Fire Brigade have been called out because a sett was lit on fire."

(Image: PA)

Lynn said:"We have seen farmers spreading slurry across their fields and fox hunts taking place across bTB infected farmlands," both of which have been attributed to the spreading of the disease.

She said the organisation: "does not support any killings of wild animals, so we wouldn't support this cull even it was seen to be working, regardless of the science.

"It has to stop. Sets have been dug out, we have seen badgers in cages and being shot at. They are seen as collateral damage."

Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs and Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch data 149 badger setts were discovered to be blocked during the 2017-18 hunting season. 108 in Gloucestershire were reported to the police. Their data states that the vast majority of the blocked setts that were discovered and recorded (94) were freshly blocked and found in proximity to known hunt meets.

The report determines ‘freshly blocked’ as 'not more than a week ago.'

The groups behind the report said: "It should also be noted that many of these badger sett blockings have been carried out within the official badger cull zone, increasing the threat to bio-security in a bTB area."

But the number of zones available for badger culling has recently increased in Gloucestershire, with Natural England setting a number of targets for two areas specifically.

One cull area, which has been in place in Gloucestershire since 2013, has a set target of between 28 and 927 for this open season.

An authorisation letter was sent out September 7 approving a cull in more than one area of Gloucestershire.

(Image: BBC)

They set a target for this open season for between 1,163 and 1,579.

The licences are for four years and allow specific individuals to cull badgers each year for specific dates between June 1 and January 31.

Gloucestershire constabulary wrote on Facebook on November 12: "Did you know that it's illegal to take, injure or kill a badger? It's also illegal to dig, block or interfere with a badger sett."

Lynn said "The police in Gloucestershire are very much on side, but it is impossible to be watching badger setts day in, day out."