30 Comments

It's a lie! Farmers cut hedges whenever they want to and protests are never made against them! Why, because no-one would listen. Report a hedge being cut? You would be laughed at in the countryside!

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The nation that loves animals ?? Such a load of crap !!!

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It's certainly not a government that loves animals (or the environment), no matter what a whole heap of useless and ecologically illiterate Defra ministers say.

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Have they ever, I was a hunt saboteur back in the eighties & those bastards would ride rough shot through anyone's property, land & anything getting in their way got torn apart. These are the idiots that shot grouse peasants & there supporters tend to be right bastards that enjoy a spot of badger baiting in their spare time. Farmers remove hedgerows, they spray with deadly chemicals that kills not only the birds foodstuffs but the birds as well. Slug pellets killed an assortment of animals 😢 from birds to hedgehogs & slowworms. We cut down the forests & you see you people every day felling trees to put down gravel. Then you've got the netters in places like Malta that net thousands of small bird species, a lot of which die. Then you've got bloody windfarms & overhead cables & fruitcakes with shotguns blasting everything in sight. You've got illegal bird traps & poisoned bait, basically human beings are a scrouge to themselves & everything that lives & breathes on this planet.

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I have said for a long time that the only species that can be classed as vermin on this planet is humanity. We are the only species that takes more than it needs to survive and have caused misery and suffering to anything and everything that has the misfortune to cross our path.

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'Man is the only animal with the ability to blush, for he is the only one that needs to'.

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It is absolutely heartbreaking

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I've said it time and again, this government goes not give a shit about wildlife or the environment and their claims that they do are lies. As for farmers, they only care about profit and always want paying to do the right thing. It's laughable that they claim to be the guardian's of the countryside. They don't care about wildlife or the environment either. It's a depressing world we live in.

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Unfortunately, most farmers/landowners I know won't lift a finger to help wildlife unless they get a handout from the taxpayer and even then they will do the bare minimum. It is an alien concept to most of them to do something simply for the greater good without financial reward. The same goes for this government, who's only interest in anything is how much money they and their cronies can make out of it. We will boot them out of power this year but my biggest worry is that Labour will not do enough. Until we get a fairer voting system we are fighting an uphill battle against an establishment that has no desire to change something that mostly benefits the wealthy, greedy and selfish.

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Labour was the party that riddled the 2004 "hunting act" with the loopholes it needed to continue. I am having a great struggle over who to vote for, things definitely can't continue to go on as they are but regardless of whoever we vote for (labour, green party, lib Dems etc), how do we know that they won't just promise the earth and then do nothing for it and/or make the situation even worse (if that is even possible)?

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You're right Cara. Tony Blair made sure that the hunting act was useless in order to suck up to Charlie boy. I have mostly voted for Labour but will vote for the Greens this time. I know they won't win under this system but we have to start somewhere. Our best hope is a Labour minority government with support from smaller parties. This is our only chance of getting a vote to change the system. If we ever get PR the Tories will be finished for good. I live in hope!

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Thank you for replying Mark Cottam. I know this is our only chance to hopefully change the currently broken system and even though I am still unsure of who to vote for myself, thank you for your positivity and for making your decision clearer. Like you rightly said, all we can do is live in hope. To vote the best we can and hope that they will do what they claim to.

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Cara, if you had to name ten good MPs, wouldn’t one of them be Caroline Lucas with her excellent record. The Greens have never been in a position to louse things up like the big two, and really, could they do any worse? As Mark has said, we need to change the system. My way of trying to make a start in that is to support Make Votes Matter, the Electoral Reform Society and vote Green. At least then you can look grandchildren in the eye and say you tried.

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Very true again. I don't think that I could name 10 really good MPs but I do have great respect for the MP Henry Smith, as, from what I have read of him so far, he has spoken in debates and been proactively and strongly in support of various animal welfare asks such as to ban trophy hunting and fur imports. However, one thing that I am certain of is that I am definitely not voting for conservatives, even though he is a Tory MP. I unfortunately, don't know a great deal about Caroline Lucas though but anyone who will actually and properly help animals and the environment through action and not by empty words/promises on a piece of paper has my support.

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Don't hold your breath on this non compassionate government, they couldn't give a dam about their own "species" so hardly likely to care for birds and wild animals are they?

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All the government/defra is doing is slowly ruining our nature and wildlife but protecting the illegal migration of humans against the massive voice of the British people

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Have you seen what's happening in Texas ? That's what's going to happen here very soon & the Irish are on the verge of rearming.

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I completely agree with you.

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It’s great that you are highlighting this, but it may well give the impression to supporters who don’t routinely go into the countryside that everything was fine before. It wasn’t and hasn’t been for years.

There are good landowners and farmers who do good things for wildlife but they are very few and far between. Here in Lincolnshire, most of our hedges are flailed so short and thin that they are useless. Fields are ploughed right up to the edge. Sadly Rosemary (1st comment) is spot on.

Why? Well my theory is that if you do not provide nesting, roosting or food, then you have nothing on your land to protect when the very rare clipboard comes along.

I’m with Mark Cottam, don’t rely on Labour, they are just Tory lite. Vote Green and fight for PR. Yes yes, I know they won’t get in obvs, but you/we have to start somewhere. Before you moan, ask yourself what you are doing to help solve it.

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Can you be sure the green party will do what they promise?

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Well the other parties have had their chances and have never done so. The answer to your question is no, I can’t. But if you keep doing the same thing you will get the same result. Try something different. The only politician to turn up at Chris Packham’s Walk for Wildlife in London was Caroline Lucas. The only politician to turn up for the last Hen Harrier day In Derbyshire was Natalie Bennett. Got to be worth a try, no?

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Very true and thank you for answering my question Paul Fisher. I don't like Chris Packham but any MP and/or party who truly care about animals and the environment and will actually do what they promised to (in other words, as the sayings go, "put their money where their mouth is" and "actions speak louder than words") I will support.

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Regrettably we are loosing our wildlife at an alarming rate. In a country vastly overpopulated we see more and more development on green fields, with the increasing population comes the need for more food and utilities which further destroys wildlife habitats and biodiversity.

We must continue to shout at government to do more and put a halt to the destruction of our countryside and wild places. They need to be reminded that we share the planet we don’t own it, without biodiversity we won’t even exist.

Buy locally from small suppliers who respect the countryside, alas it’s starting to look like it’s our last chance 😢

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Sadly, I completely agree.

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Tories dont give a flying 💩 about the countryside theres no cash from it, liars, cheats, all of them it will be down to supporters like PTW to intervene and make it onto social media to put right the government willing to destroy everything in its path never trust any politicians A levels in lies🙈🙉🙊

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Defra .........or Deathra ?

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THIS PATHETIC GUMBIMENT COULDN'T FIND THEIR ARSE, WITH BOTH HANDS!!!!!!

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I wish I could say I was surprised but all I have read and seen about the government (especially DEFRA), shows that they don't give a toss about animals or the environment! An apparently "animal loving" country complete with uneccessary hunting, shooting, "culling" and bearskin hats for the "royal guards" to boot!! Who do we vote for? This can't continue so definitely not Tories, labour were the ones who riddled the 2004 "hunting act" so how do we know they won't do something similar if they get into power again but also with all other the parties too (green, lib Dems, reform etc) how can we trust that any of the parties won't just promise the earth and then either do absolutely nothing and let it continue or make the situation even worse (if that is in any way possible) once they get into power? In my opinion, I would like to vote for a dissolved government where the public get to decide on everything instead where what the majority of the public ask for (backed up with with solid proof and surveys) is what will be decided/happen. After all, WE, animals and the environment are the ones who are most affected by the governments decisions, not them, so shouldn't we be the ones to make the final decisions for ourselves, not them?

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Well said Robert..the way this country is going, there will be no wildlife just the 2 legged vermin ruining everything this beautiful planet has to offer. If everything could survive without us (the good ones) then i would wish for the whole of humanity to be wiped out, and leave this earth to the beautiful animals we are destroying.

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That is absolutely appalling and disgusting how those farmers and big landowners are ignoring the rules and now there apparently will not be any protections for the birds and badgers and those fox hunters are killing foxes and people’s pets and running over people. Hedge rows are absolutely necessary and are beautiful besides

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