Yesterday I sat down with representatives from other NGOs for an hour-long meeting with DEFRA Minister Angela Eagle MP. Within moments of the meeting starting, she said something we were all waiting to hear: this government will end the culling of badgers once the final Cumbria licence has played out.
I reacted by pretending to stand up and leave, saying “right, I’ll be off then.” Of course, what followed was the realisation that the fight to end the badger cull for good is far from over. But for now, it is important to recognise how far we have come and to see this for what it is: a real win.
Over the last four years, we have worked relentlessly to drag the issue of the badger cull out of the shadows and into the mainstream.
Back in 2022, midway through the cull, we released undercover footage from Grafton Pet Crematorium in Northamptonshire. What it showed was shocking. Badgers being carelessly handled and stored, with a complete disregard for basic biosecurity. This is a cull justified on the basis of disease control, yet those involved were behaving as if there was no risk at all. If these animals truly posed such a threat, why were they being treated like this? It raised serious questions, not just about standards, but about the entire premise of the policy.
Since then, we have done everything we can to push back.
We have taken this issue to the public through protests, lobbying, and viral online content. We have produced hard-hitting animations seen by millions. I have gone to Oxford to challenge the academics whose work has helped justify the cull. We have launched multiple petitions, including a government petition backed by over 100,000 people which led to a debate in Parliament and forced the government to go on record to state their position. In that debate, there was clear cross-party recognition that the future of tackling TB lies in cattle-based measures, not the continuation of killing badgers.
We have supported activists on the ground, those legally taking direct action to protect badgers in the field. I stood outside the Labour Party Conference in the pouring rain. We have worked alongside brilliant grassroots campaigners like Betty Badger, who has spent nearly a decade opposing this cruelty.
Throughout all of this, we have platformed science and evidence. We have exposed the pressure from the farming lobby and challenged the weak foundations the cull has been built on. We have published the work of leading ecologists like Tom Langton. We have stood outside DEFRA protesting.
And yesterday, for the first time, we were invited inside.
Because now, we have to be listened to.
Thank you. Thank you for supporting this work, for sticking with us, for signing the petitions, for helping push this issue into the public consciousness.
The badger cull is not over forever. But for now, it is ending.
And in this work, it is so important that we recognise moments like this. This is progress. This is a win.
It is also important to recognise that this has never been the work of one organisation alone. Groups like Badger Trust and Born Free have been fighting this for years. Campaigners, scientists, and individuals such as Tom Langton, Professor Paul Torgerson, Mary Barton (Betty Badger), and Sir Brian May have all played a huge role in challenging the cull and bringing this issue into the public eye.
This has always been a collective effort.
We will never stop fighting for badgers and for all British wildlife. The next stage is making sure the entire badger blame narrative comes to an end.
Vaccination is still being proposed by the government. I made it clear to the Minister that this does not make sense. If badgers are not to blame, and if the cull has failed, then continuing to focus on badgers at all is the wrong path.
We will keep pushing. And we will keep you updated on what comes next.
