I'M shocked that Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative chairman of the all-party Parliamentary Group for Dairy Farming, has apparently not even bothered to research this issue properly, Dairy group MP hints Tories will act on bovine TB, Echo, December 2.

If he had, he would have found that Rosie Woodroffe's internationally peer-reviewed study of autumn, 2007, shows clearly that if you concentrate on cattle measures and leave badgers alone , the TB infection rate in badgers actually goes down massively within one generation. But if you cull badgers, it goes up.

Further, far from TB causing "misery" among badgers, the vast majority are completely disease free. And even when infected, very, very few indeed actually go on to develop symptoms or the infectious stage of the disease.

It has absolutely nothing to do with town or country — it's a matter of science and facts against knee-jerk prejudice and a shameful willingness to scapegoat wildlife for the inevitable effects of modern farming methods.

Mr K does himself, the farming community and the Conservative party no favours by displaying his own ignorance in this way.

Penelope Sanders

Wales

(via thisisexeter.co.uk)