There was something akin to terror at Tory central offices in Bridgwater last saturday as Conservative party staff dialled 999 and called for Police assistance when a giant badger appeared outside. The Tories who support the controversial badger cull, must have felt their come-uppance was nigh and a giant zombie badger from their evil past had appeared to wreak Godzilla-like vengeance on the offices of the Badger Hunter in chief Ian Lidell-Grainger. But despite the knee trembling fear of the instigators of this flawed policy it turned out instead to just be Percy The (man in a giant) Badger (costume) who had been meeting candidates in Bridgwater’s Cornhill. Labour, Green and Lib Dems all turned up to show badgery solidarity. The Green candidate gave a polite wave, Labour councillor Li Gibson offered a firm hug and a cuddle and the Lib Dem chased him round the Blake statue with some giant syringe. But the Tory was nowhere to be seen…so they went to see where he was and visited Tory HQ.
Somerset Against the Badger Cull take up the story In their press release ‘Percy meets the candidates’ they say “Following his letter to Ian Liddell-Grainge
Labour opposes the Cull
Labour Candidate Oliver Thornton said “The Labour Party is not in favour of culling and neither am I, there has grown up an industry around TB testing and culling which is completely ineffective, often cruel, wastes livestock, damages farmers livelihoods and is very destructive to our local ecology (not just the badgers).”
I know it’s not directly related to badgers but the very mention of “Mr Little-Stranger” prompts me to say that I received a letter from him the other day – personally addressed. It purported to be an election communication but was simply a mass-produced load of fibs from 10 Downing Street with a facsimile signature of the tousled-hair blond one! No mention of any local issues or policies which he personally feels important -not even a pic of him with a badger! How lazy can you get! He must feel so super confident that he cannot be challenged that he can’t even invent his own fibs.
From the farmers’ point of view, Bovine TB is a terrifying problem: it has been driving many farmers into desperate measures, yet there doesn’t appear to be any viable solution to the link between badgers, deer and cattle. The subject should be given a much higher priority in Government policy by ALL parties. Livestock has an important role in this country – especially in this constituency, the countryside of which favours the production of grass and much of it unsuitable for arable or horticultural agriculture.