Tag Archives: defra

David Heath MP

David Heath MP reports back on the CITES conference and global agreement to protect sharks and manta rays

By David Heath MP | Tue 19th March 2013 - 12:55 pm

Much of my work in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs centres on the last two parts of the title, so it’s good just occasionally to be able to make a difference on the other part of the agenda, the environment. I had just such an opportunity last week when I represented the United Kingdom at the meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

I was in Bangkok, Thailand, leading a trade mission on behalf of British meat and livestock to the biggest trade fair in Asia. But the timing meant that …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Mark Valladares

How to damage rural communities in several easy stages…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 30th November 2012 - 10:22 am

Yesterday, I waxed unlyrical about the effects of government on rural life, and today, I want to look at some of those effects…

The Department for Education, under Michael Gove, has changed the funding arrangements for schools, with unfortunate side effects for rural schools. This means that schools such as the one I visited recently in Norfolk will lose grant funding, and be forced to lay off staff as a result. Given that rural counties already receive less grant per pupil than …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | Leave a comment
Andrew Wigley

Opinion: Badger cull delay is good news for Liberal Democrats

By Andrew Wigley | Wed 24th October 2012 - 6:55 pm

Owen Paterson’s announcement on the delay of the badger cull is good news for badgers and for the Liberal Democrats.

The ill-conceived policy may have had the backing of significant interest groups such as the NFU – Paterson repeatedly acknowledged their efforts in his speech – but it was always going to be difficult to present and ‘sell’ this policy to a nation with a strong affection to its environment and wildlife, especially after the debacle of the proposal to sell off the country’s forests.Combine public opinion with the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 18 Comments
Andrew Wigley

Kill the cull – it’s bad for badgers, science and the Government

By Andrew Wigley | Wed 5th September 2012 - 10:23 am

A new term and the Government looks set to walk straight into a public relations disaster. In a bid to ‘manage’ the spread of bovine TB, Defra will commence a badger cull starting in two areas of the South West – West Somerset/Taunton Deane and in the Forest of Dean/Tewkesbury. It is not just the pictures of indiscriminate shooting and maiming of an icon of the British countryside which will be so damaging for the Government; it is the fact that the cull is based on flawed science.  This is an ill-conceived policy.

The decision by Defra, one of the few …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 34 Comments
Kathryn Parminter

Baroness Parminter writes… Food for thought

By Kathryn Parminter | Wed 27th June 2012 - 4:21 pm

Defra has today launched its Hospitality and Food Service Agreement. This is a new voluntary UK-wide agreement with caterers, pubs, hotels and restaurants to reduce food and packaging waste by 5% and to increase the rate of recycling, composting or anaerobic digestion to 70% (it’s currently around 47%). While we as Liberal Democrats should welcome this and recognise the positive environmental impact it will have, the Government could and should be going much further on food.

Food production and consumption play a key role in public health, the UK economy, and in enhancing natural capital. Everyone should have access to …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
Kathryn Parminter

Baroness Parminter writes… Protecting buzzards

By Kathryn Parminter | Thu 24th May 2012 - 2:53 pm

Many of you will have seen the news yesterday that common buzzards may be at risk following anecdotal evidence from the shooting industry that buzzards, which usually scavenge dead animals, may be eating some of the 40 million young pheasants that are released each year for shooting.

My colleagues on the Lib Dem Defra backbench Committee and I have been very clear that we oppose measures that would harm a protected bird of prey that’s only now recovering after decades of decline, and we’ve been making this case to Defra ministers. We believe the focus should be on tackling …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
Paul Walter

Opinion: the Lib Dems should have have more influence over the environment, food and rural affairs

By Paul Walter | Tue 22nd March 2011 - 4:03 pm

Recently, I have started taking an interest in the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). My MP is one of their ministers. He seems to spend an awful lot of time on marine affairs, coastal defences and the natural environment. So, as a good citizen, I feel I ought to take an interest. For example, recently, I read through all the questions and answers at Thursday’s the DEFRA session in the House of Commons. Well done Andrew George and Duncan Hames for speaking. But, apart from their three queries, it was a Tory controlled zone.

DEFRA is unusual …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 1 Comment
Tony Greaves

Tony Greaves writes: seeing the wood for the trees

By Tony Greaves | Fri 25th February 2011 - 1:49 pm

Why did the Government drop its proposals for the Forestry Commission (FC) and the forests and woodlands it manages? I thought it would happen but I was astonished by the speed of it. It comes down to three things. An ill-considered and foolish policy. Incompetent presentation. And a stupendously successful and largely under the radar campaign which burst through with stunning effect.

The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) included a target of £100million from selling around 15% of the national forestry estate in England. This is the most that can be sold under existing legislation. But over the summer DEFRA Ministers …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Canal cuts are nuts, says Huhne

By The Voice | Mon 27th November 2006 - 12:00 pm

WebsiteA new campaign against Defra’s environmental budget cuts, which has meant a 7% cut to British Waterways funds in the last year with the loss of 180 jobs, has been announced.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said:

“These redundancies show Defra’s budget cuts beginning to bite. Our canal networks will suffer as a result, together with a whole range of environmental and rural services.

“These cuts put our canals and waterways under threat, impacting on a wide range of users including boat owners, holidaymakers, anglers and ramblers. Canals are also …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | Leave a comment



Recent Comments

  • User AvatarDavid Evans 22nd May - 9:59am
    I think at this moment of near triumph, as liberals, we all need to consider why it is that some zealots want to disown people...
  • User AvatarFrank H Little 22nd May - 9:36am
    Joe, an in-out referendum would have been an opportunity to deflate the anti-EU campaign. I am convinced that only a small minority of those able...
  • User AvatarGiles Goodall 22nd May - 9:17am
    @Stuart: I don't think you can doubt the fact that Lib Dems have set the pace on this issue, as Dave says, and that's something...
  • User AvatarDave Jones 22nd May - 9:16am
    Ed – I can see why you are angry. But pushing the party policy angle is a bad one. What about Clegg and Cable when...
  • User AvatarRoland 22nd May - 8:54am
    "It’s just a shame we couldn’t get this through without showing tolerance for religious objections." That was because people (deliberately?) confused the state of marriage...