Bovine TB is a terrible disease. Last year alone 25,000 cattle
were slaughtered in England at a cost of £90 million to the
taxpayer in testing and compensation for farmers. In hotspot
areas like the South West, the toll on farmers and the rural
community is immense. This is why Labour in government set up
the 10-year Randomised Badger Cull Trial (RBCT) to examine the
effects of culling badgers, protecting cattle and reducing the
transmission of bovine TB. The final report of the Independent
Scientific Group (ISG) which oversaw the study stated: "the
reductions in cattle TB incidence achieved by repeated badger
culling were not sustained in the long term after culling ended
and did not offset the financial costs of culling. These
results...suggest that badger culling is unlikely to contribute
effectively to the control of cattle TB in Britain." Labour's
approach in government was - and continues to be - led by this
science. The Government's decision to cull is driven by short-
term political calculation. One of