scolopax

Good, about time. Now to re-examine the ludicrous winter fuel allowance.

A few squirrels released back into the wild where they already occur is going to make no difference whatsoever. Let them get on with it, good luck to them. The horse has truly bolted regards grey squirrels in the UK. If Reds are to be protected then the greys need to be culled on and near the Red squirrel range. Shooting a few in your back garden in Chorley or Chelmsford is not going to make on jot of difference to teh survival of Reds, and neither is the release of a handful of Greys, so long as it is away from current Red territory.

any mention of the over use of slug pellets in agriculature being the cause of their decline ?

I would release it, same as I would with a fox, a muntjac deer, or a ring necked parakeet

Changes to agricultural practices are almost entirely responsible for the declines Cereal fields are effectively sterile and silage grass is a disaster for most wildlife.

Yes I would think so, if we were to leave the EU

Apart from the 41 who died Anyone notice how many survivors had their hand baggage with them as they walked across the tarmac! Incredible.

My question in all these cases is did the person move to the UK purely to play professional sport? If they did is not right they should then play for a UK representative team even if they qualify by residency. If they moved for any other reason that’s okay. Basically it boils down to did they move as a child or an adult IMO.

So another foreigner plays for England. What are any PW cricket fans views on the inclusion of Jofra Archer? Born and raised in Barbados, played three times for West Indies under 18’s, came here after age of 18 to play professional cricket. Now qualifies for England, and has been selected, due to the fact his father has a British passport and he has completed the few years required residency.

Avery has been relentless in pursuit of driven grouse but I think they may try something new, maybe in one of the devolved governments? Blue hare maybe, the SNP will be a soft touch for them, lots of sympathetic ears in the Scottish parliament

take Canada geese off the GL, but make an individual license easy to apply for. But that’s not a concession, it is just my opinion that Canada geese are not a pest species in general. apar5 from that do not concede an inch. In fact we should demand that common buzzards and cormorants are put on the GL’s purely to give the collective members of WJ coronaries.

I have been following Avery for a few years, full of his own self importance but also clever, persistant and most of all dangerous. One thing he has not given away is what their next target will be, it might be bird orientated but that is not guaranteed, hare coursing was mentioned yesterday. One thing for certain we have not heard the last of them, we really need to be thinking about where 'we' are most vulnerable. They will go for easy wins first.

Enjoyed that, as an aside I always though Chris Sutton and Vim were the best of enemies, maybe I was getting confused with somebody else.

is this from the new General Licenses? NE are no longer fit for purpose and should be shut down...what was the phrase used? a bonfire of the quango's?

there is no such thing as a pest designation outside of the General Licenses. All birds are protected under the WLC act 1981 (and EU Birds Directive). But some spcies of these 'protected' birds are allowed to be killed at certain times of the year, and some are listed on the general licenses allowing killing at any time of year, subject to conditions. And some are on both, like Canada Geese i referred to earlier. Therefore some birds have more protection than others, but all have some level of protection. Wild Justice did not fundamentally change anything, no law was made or revoked, they identifed that the law was not being applied as intended via the General Licenses issued by NE. They threatened to take NE to court over general licenses and gained sufficient funds from members to support the action. Essentially NE conceded defeat, agreed that they were not applying the law correctly and pulled the general licenses...as they were not defacto 'legal'.