Having today reiterated its eagerness to see a badger cull go ahead in England, the NFU has challenged the Conservatives in Defra and Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George over the proposals for trial culls, the public consultation on which ended yesterday.

Andrew George, who today said that it is a "matter for national disgrace" that there is no Liberal Democrat Minister in DEFRA,  also questioned Defra’s plans for killing badgers as part of its bovine TB control measures, which were under consultation.

Echoing criticisms levelled at Defra by Natural England in its response to the consultation, Mr George said his party did not "fully support" the department’s policy, as MPs were "not convinced" that the evidence suggested a cull conducted in such a way would be effective and humane. Instead he recommended more emphasis be put on tighter cattle controls and vaccine research.

The Lib Dem agriculture spokesperson, who has opposed the plans since Defra secretary Caroline Spelman announced she was "strongly minded" to press ahead with a cull in July, explained, "Our concern is the risk of making things worse and farmers would never forgive us for that."

However, Mr George has made it clear that he wants to see a trial cull go ahead, albeit conducted in a slightly different way. On several occasions Mr George has said, "I'm not squeamish about culling badgers," though he regretted that he did not entirely back these proposals; he lamented, "I wanted the government's proposal to be science-led."

Kendall quick to attack image expired

However, Peter Kendall attacked George's statements, demanding to know whether he supported the trials. Kendall stirred up controversy earlier in the month by questioning Natural England over its criticisms of Defra policy and statements made by its director, Andrew Wood, on BBC radio.

Mr George offered the retort, "The NFU position is that you presuppose this policy is going to work and we are reserving judgement on that."

In a statement on the union’s response to the consultation, Mr Kendall today repeated, "We want to see an effective, carefully managed and science-led policy of badger controls." He did, however, acknowledge that, "We have said that for a badger control policy to work effectively it must be part of a range of measures to eradicate bovine TB. This includes a combination of existing cattle tests, movement restrictions, the slaughter of test-positive animals, good on-farm biosecurity and, longer-term, vaccination."

The NFU has also criticised Defra's plans as "unworkable," as they transfer too much cost and risk onto the farmer, who under current plans would be committed to a four year control period under TB Management Agreements.  

The agreements outline the obligations farmers would be under to carry out culling for four years once a licence is granted. However, if the licence holder does not meet their obligations, they also permit the government to assume responsibility and recover the costs from the farmer or landowner. The NFU described such binding contracts as, "impractical, wholly disproportionate and likely to be prohibitively difficult to achieve in practice."