Senedd votes to put badger culling back on Welsh TB agenda

The Senedd has approved a motion committing the new Welsh Government to consider targeted wildlife control, including badger culling, where the evidence supports it, putting culling back on the Welsh bovine TB agenda for the first time in 14 years. The Reform UK motion passed on 15 July with the support of Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and the chamber’s sole Liberal Democrat.

What does the motion commit the Welsh Government to?

The motion calls on ministers to “ensure that, in the event that the TB Technical Advisory Group recommends targeted wildlife control, including culling, such recommendations are given full and proper consideration and, where supported by the evidence, form part of the Welsh Government’s approach to bovine TB eradication”.

The wording was crafted to win the government benches over, echoing the language of Plaid Cymru’s own manifesto, which pledged a new approach to bovine TB “which recognises wildlife as a source of infection and enables scientifically validated control methods”. In the event the motion carried with Plaid’s votes as well as those of the Conservatives and the sole Liberal Democrat.

Why is this a change of direction for Wales?

Welsh Labour set itself against badger culling in March 2012, when the then rural affairs minister, John Griffiths, scrapped plans for a cull in favour of a comprehensive badger vaccination programme. That position held for 14 years, even as culling was piloted and rolled out across England.

The Countryside Alliance (countryside-alliance.org) welcomed the vote, saying the interests of farmers and cattle “are not best served by dogmatism, either against badger culling or for it”, and that what matters is following the evidence wherever it leads.

What did the minister say?

Llyr Gruffydd, the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, told the chamber that the evidence showed a “step change” was needed in Wales’s approach to bovine TB, but that the shape of it must rest on expert advice.

“While I recognise that wildlife can play a role in the transmission of bovine TB, it is important that we don’t pretend that wildlife is responsible in every case, nor should we prejudge the conclusions of our expert advisors,” he said. “I’m currently awaiting further advice from both groups on the role of wildlife and wildlife interventions, amongst other topics, and I look forward to considering the evidence base and their advice carefully.”

What happens next?

No cull is imminent. Ministers are awaiting advice from the TB Technical Advisory Group and the TB programme board, and any recommendation for targeted wildlife control would then have to be given full and proper consideration under the terms of the motion. The debate and vote can be read in full in the Record of Proceedings for the 15 July Plenary at senedd.wales.