I SEEM to recall David Cameron came into office promising the “Greenest government ever”, rather spoilt by an accidentally overheard comment later as regards energy bills and global warming debunking “All that green crap”!

In fact the Tories have betrayed farming and countryside interests ever since.

This week’s non-vote on repeal of fox hunting was textbook politics, the proposal to allow full packs to hunt foxes as in Scotland, scuppered since the Scots SNP would have voted no, no point in holding a debate if you know you will lose!

And similarly, a vote on more badger culls would bring a resounding no but Liz Truss avoids the question of if/when the promised six new pilot culls might happen, passing the buck with the political non-answer by saying the licensors Natural England has received “expressions of interest”.

It will be a spectacular betrayal of farmers if any costly pointless further culls are allowed, and an affront to the scientific and moral integrity of Natural England if they are compelled to issue licences.

Any further badger culls or badger vaccinations are utterly pointless for three unarguable reasons:- 1. They are a monumental waste of money because they will never stop the spread of TB.

Allowing further pilots will be an incitement to civil war, with the wastage of scarce resources on extra policing to protect shooters from protestors (or vice versa?).

Some three million of the £15 million on the two pilot culls so far, so running eight pilots could waste c. six million /a.

2. Some 2,468 badgers culled but only c. seven might have been a super-infectious tuberculous risk to cows, so nil effect on cattle TB.

3.Most critically however is the recent u-turn in understanding of TB.

There have always been two sorts of cattle reactors to the skin test, ones with early TB which have yet to develop visible lesions, and late TB reactors with visible lung tubercle lesions... so NVL / no visible lesion versus VL/ visible lesion cases.

Badgers have been traditionally blamed for all the NVL herd breakdowns, simply because there did not seem to be a confirmed cattle TB source.

But Defra’s new strategy in stopping the spread from high risk “hotspot” areas to TB-free edge and low risk areas at last recognises that ALL these NVL, unconfirmed, or OTF-S (ie. Officially TB-Free-Suspended) cases should now be regarded as confirmed or OTF-W (ie. Officially TB-Free-Withdrawn, ie. not “false positive” reactors but truly infected despite the lack of confirmatory lesions).

Put very simply all these new breakdowns are after all simply caused by and first identified by these early TB cattle cases, so the whole “scientific” justification for badger culls or ring vaccination is dead in the water.

A u-turn abandoning badger culls is inevitable, perhaps Liz Truss will do a Jo Moore and announce it at 5pm on Tuesday, June 21 when Parliament itself is culled for the summer.

Martin Hancox MA Oxon ex-government TB panel

Stroud