Farming Minister Jim Paice has announced that a final decision on whether a badger cull will go ahead in England will be made "before Christmas". Paice made the announcement following questioning at the NFU’s Tenant’s Conference.

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He said the announcement was taking so long because Defra want cull plans to withstand the inevitable legal challenge that will follow a green light.

Paice was recently forced to defend the Tories’ policy in Parliament against shadow environment secretary and cull opponent Mary Creagh, who said official figures revealed that just 5 herd breakdowns a year would be prevented in each cull area, a reduction of just 2.5 per cent, rather than the government’s stated 19 per cent, in breakdowns.