DAVID DREW has called the Conservative’s badger culling strategy “the most inhumane and disastrous act of the coalition.”

Speaking at the Stroud Wildlife Election Forum last Tuesday evening, he attacked Neil Carmichael over his support of the controversial cull and argued the government’s continued policy had completely ignored “clear scientific evidence”.

The Labour parliamentary candidate lamented the millions of pounds spent on killing badgers and said that the conservative government had pursued a “completely vindictive” strategy on the issue.

He spoke on the panel alongside Neil Carmichael (Con); Sarah Lunnon (Green) Adrian Walker-Smith (Lib Dem) and Caroline Stephens (UKIP) and Richard Wilson (MyStroudMP)

The fox-hunting ban and the badger cull featured as the main topics of discussion in what was a fiery election encounter.

During the forum, guest speaker Dominic Dyer of Care for the Wild and CEO of Badger Trust, opened by saying that this election was looking like the closest in years and that issues of wildlife conservation could hold the balance of votes in hotly-contested constituencies like Stroud.

Speaking on the subject of the badger cull, he said it had failed on three levels; an economic level, a scientific level and a humane level.

He said the cull was a “huge issue of controversy” and strongly condemned the persecution of the animal, pointing out figures that showed badger violence had doubled since the introduction of the cull.

The badger cull began in West Gloucestershire in 2013, and continued again in 2014.

Culling badgers, Mr Dyer disputed, was not only the wrong way forward in tackling bovine TB, but is actually “counterproductive”, and that scientific evidence has shown “time and time again” that it did not work.

He accused the conservatives of forging numbers of infected animals and continually ignoring scientific data after their pilot scheme.

“We are calling on all parties, whoever is in power, to get to grips with this issue. Let’s stop this tragedy happening in our countryside, and let’s bring about the protection that is required,” he said.

Mr Carmichael, Stroud’s MP for the past five years, and a supporter of the cull, was then questioned directly on his views by a largely unsympathetic audience.

He defended his government’s policy and backed the pilot cull as part of a “package” of measures to tackle the disease.

Vaccination on badgers was key to stop the spread of TB, he said, but went on to argue that culling was also necessary.

Mr Carmichael went on to say he would vote to overturn the fox-hunting ban if he could.

He argued that just because he supported the repeal of the fox-hunting ban “doesn’t mean I don’t care about animal welfare.”

All his fellow candidates said they personally opposed fox-hunting.

Coming under direct attack from the crowd, Mr Carmichael pointed out his party’s work on other issues like fisheries, marine conservation and the stopping of illegal ivory trade.

Vocal and angry members of the audience went on to accuse him of blatantly ignoring the will of the constituents on badger culling and hunting.

Ms Lunnon argued: “Neil can stand here all he wants and keep saying the badger cull is working, but the evidence, quite simply, is that it’s not.”

Mr Drew highlighted his own work to bring in the fox hunting ban, and said that any attempt to reverse it back “absolutely appalled” him.

He went on propose instead that vaccination and more scientific experimentation into immunity were key to stopping the spread of TB in badgers and cattle.

Mr Walker-Smith outlined his opposition to the cull, but admitted he wasn’t in line with his party’s official policy on the matter. He asserted however that he is working with other party members to change this.

Mr Dyer concluded that the election on May 7 would have the biggest impact on wildlife preservation in UK history.