Labour and Conservative ministers have entered into a war of words over the controversial badger cull policy.

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• Increasing the income of Defra’s arms-length bodies, by raising the proportion of regulatory costs which are recovered from the industries under supervision;
• Raising environmental protection and abstraction charges to boost Defra’s income by £2 million a year; and
• Taking preventative measures to improve water quality by supporting best practice in the farming and water industries to save a total of £20 million in environmental protection spending.

The Labour ministers behind the spending review criticised the Conservative-led government’s handling of flood defence and climate change adaptation spending, which they said had potentially sorted up greater cost for the future.

On Thursday, Maria Eagle said, “The Tory-led management of Defra has been characterised by waste, storing up costs for the future and incompetence.

“Millions of pounds have been wasted on a badger cull which experts advise will make no meaningful contribution to eradicating bovine TB.

“This Tory-led Government never should have pressed ahead with these ineffective and inhumane badger culls when they knew from the start that this policy had the potential to make the problem of bovine TB worse.

“Instead of ignoring the overwhelming evidence the Government must work with scientists, wildlife groups and farmers to develop an alternative strategy to get the problem of Bovine TB under control.”