PROGRESS in science and politics often happens by serendipity, and accidentally.

So, reports from the recent NFU meeting reveal farmer frustration, that the 25 year eradication scheme seems to have stalled.

The consultation of how to stop spread from hotspots to edge and low risk areas has been put on the back burner apparently.

It does, however, contain the critically important point that OTF-S (Officially TB-Free-Suspended) or unconfirmed breakdowns should now be regarded as OTF-W, ie. TB-Free-Withdrawn or “confirmed” tuberculous despite being early cases with no confirmatory lesions.

Hurray, at last, so all the breakdowns supposedly “Due to Badgers” because there was no apparent confirmed TB source are in fact merely early cattle TB cases.

So culling badgers is meaningless, and ring vaccinating badgers won’t stop the spread of cattle cases either, so is utterly bonkers!

Perhaps the reason ministers are unwilling to state if /when the promised five to six new pilot culls might start, reflects the fact that they need to do an embarrassing u-turn.

So watch this space at 5pm on Tuesday, July 21, when Parliament ends!

Martin Hancox

Stroud