SHOOT first (badgers) and ask questions later. There are important questions to be asked and answered.

Will culled badgers be examined to see if they actually have bovine TB? Will any discovered TB be identified by strain and matched to infected cattle (or deer)?

Will someone with expert scientific knowledge please explain the way in which badgers are supposed to spread the disease to cattle and other animals.

At the moment the evidence can hardly be given the credence of circumstantial. It seems, at best, to be assumptive guesswork.

Bovine TB is endemic in bovine animals across the globe and such animals readily spread the infection.

Does it lie dormant awaiting a trigger to set it off as well as being transmitted by the aerosol or saliva routes?

Will culling make any difference other than to pacify the farming lobby?

The Prime Minister is all for ending the compensation culture. If the TB compensation scheme for farmers suddenly ended would this promote the rapid development of an effective vaccine?

Albert Weager

Coalway