Welsh first minister says no to badger culling

Wales’ first minister has blamed cattle movements for any increase in bovine TB in areas of the country with low disease risk – and refused to allow badger culling.

Mark Drakeford has set out a plan of attack for tackling bovine TB in Wales, which places the blame on cattle and farmers for spreading the disease.

Shadow Welsh rural affairs secretary Janet Finch-Saunders recently met with cattle farmers whose herds have been devastated by TB.

See also: Q&A: Wales’ chief vet outlines latest bovine TB strategy

During a debate in the Senedd, she called for the introduction of a badger cull in Wales to tackle the disease, like the one in operation in England since 2013.

Responding to a question from Ms Finch-Saunders, Conservative member of the Welsh parliament for Aberconwy, Mr Drakeford ruled out culling in Wales under the Labour-led administration.

“‘If I’ve learned anything about [bovine] TB, it’s that there is no point in just trying to trade statistics about it, because for every statistic you will quote, there will be a counterstatistic that can be [stated] and the science behind it is disputed as well, as she knows,” he said.

Mr Drakeford said farmers buying in cattle and bringing them into Wales was the “single greatest reason why low-incidence areas have moved up a very sad hierarchy”.

@SwaledaleMutton @sjtomo157 @1GarethWynJones @NFUtweets @NFU_Dairy @NFUCymru @AbiReader @RhianepFW @farmers_against @DewiEirig wow,ignorance is indeed bliss!!! pic.twitter.com/Mn9mrThwx9

— Steve Evans (@Evsthetractor) June 19, 2021

He said on the Senedd floor: “Culling of badgers will not happen in Wales. Just be clear about that – it was in the Labour Party manifesto, it was endorsed by the electorate. It will not happen.

“And if we want a serious debate, it is better for farmers to recognise that, and again to talk with us about things that we can do, rather than complaining about things that are not going to happen.”

Mr Drakeford said cattle vaccination is a “far better long-term solution” to tackle bovine TB, which was why the Welsh government had employed “world-leading figures in this field”, including Glyn Hewinson and his colleagues at the Centre of Excellence for Bovine TB at Aberystwyth University.

“The way of dealing with it is through the new methods that we are working on here in Wales and not by harking after things that are simply not going to be part of our response here,” added Mr Drakeford.

Twitter storm

The first minister’s comments sparked a social media maelstrom, delighting animal rights groups, but angering Welsh farmers whose herds continue to be devastated by bovine TB.

Writing on Twittter, Vale of Glamorgan dairy farmer Abi Reader, who recently lost 21 cows to bovine TB, said she was “absolutely speechless” and “disgusted”. She urged the Welsh government to use all the tools in the toolbox to tackle the disease.

Pre- and post-movement TB testing using the tuberculin skin test has been introduced in Wales to prevent the spread of the disease in the low-TB area of Wales.

But the skin test is notoriously unreliable and is believed to miss about 20% of infected cows, leaving them in the herd to infect other cows. 

Ms Reader tweeted: “No cattle move off farm without a pre-movement test as set out by Welsh government regulations. Are you suggesting the test is not good enough to detect TB?”

Linda James (@cerelin), a dairy farmer in west Wales, tweeted: “He [Mark Drakeford] has no idea. We are a closed herd, no nose-to-nose contact with other cattle.

“We go down with TB every other year or so. Plenty of badgers on our land, though. So, Mr Drakeford, explain.”

Badger Trust reaction

But the Badger Trust expressed its delight with the first minister’s stance.

Its acting chief executive, Dawn Varley, said: “Bovine TB is a cattle disease, passed between cattle by cattle, brought to herds by the importation of infected cattle, and brought to different parts of the country by the movement of cattle – as such the starting point to address it is cattle.

“That can be through strict biosecurity measures on farms, thorough restrictions on the movement of cattle, robust and regular testing or, as the first minister says, through cattle vaccination.

“Serious progress has been needed on the latter for several years, and we urge him to speed up research in this area.”

Both main Welsh farming unions – NFU Cymru and the Farmers’ Union of Wales – have repeatedly urged the Welsh government to introduce badger culling to tackle bovine TB.

However, Welsh Labour’s “Programme for Government” states that the government “forbid the culling of badgers to control the spread of TB in cattle”.