Farmers in England will be allowed to shoot beavers if they threaten their crops, the government has revealed.

Could only happen under a “Conservative” government – Owl

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

Conservationists have opposed the move, saying the animals are an “ally to farmers”, helping conserve water in times of drought, and are an endangered species that should be treasured. The rodents became extinct in the UK 400 years ago after they were hunted for their pelts, but in recent years they have been reintroduced to England and Scotland.

After the wetland-creating creatures were found on the River Otter in Devon in 2013, the government allowed them to stay to test their impact on fish stocks and local landowners.

A study in 2019 found the beavers had enhanced biodiversity in the area and increased fish stocks. Since then, the wheels have been set in motion for beavers to be recognised as a native English species and so be protected from harm. From 1 October, beavers in England will enjoy enhanced protection, paving the way for their repopulation of the country’s waterways.

However, until now it was unknown whether farmers and landowners would be allowed to kill, rather than simply remove, beavers that may chop down trees or flood farmland. Government guidance released this weekend said that, as a last resort, “lethal control” may be used.

Some farmers have criticised plans to enshrine protections for beavers without consultation on their control.

Minette Batters, chair of the NFU, said recently: “With the clear impact beavers can have on agricultural land, a clear management plan after consultation with farmers was the least the government should have created before introducing this legislation.”

Farmer Derek Gow, who breeds beavers for reintroduction projects at his farm in Devon, said he disagreed with the new guidance.

He told the Observer: “It is completely and utterly wrong to kill them. Beavers change landscapes for the better. They assist in times of drought and with slowing flow in times of flood. We should treasure beavers for all they offer and move them carefully where they will assist the land. We should not kill a single beaver.”

He added that in most cases, farmers’ concerns about beavers are unwarranted. “Beavers can only be an issue in very intensively-used drained wetlands with complex systems that have very limited fall with regards to water being drained away. We have farmed for too long next to water – the greatest pollutant of all is agriculture; pesticides, bacteria and chemicals move straight into water, causing immense damage. Beavers, which filter this sort of pollutant, are actually an aid to farming.”

James Wallace, former CEO of the Beaver Trust who now works at waterway charity River Action, said the animals should be seen as a help rather than a hindrance to agriculture.

He said: “Farmers should be offered support to live alongside beavers including a hierarchy of management starting with education, then practical solutions like protecting trees or crops or dam removal, then translocation if issues persist in areas of high risk to infrastructure such as levees, and finally lethal control if all else fails.

“Killing beavers should be the last thing in our minds as we encourage people to welcome them back, but if it is necessary then it should done by a licensed professional and only after evidence demonstrates the need. As we have been reminded by months of drought and devastating pollution from farming and sewage, we need help from nature for humans to thrive.

“Beavers can help breathe life back into our degraded and polluted land, without reducing food production. In fact, beavers and other natural solutions like paying farmers for river buffers are essential to sustainable future harvests and saving Britain’s rivers.”

An NFU spokesperson said: “Despite the government publishing more information on the management and licensing of beavers in England, the NFU is disappointed this has been done without wider consultation with farmers and landowners.

“We would like to see government further engage with farmers and landowners before it finalises the national approach to the wild release of beavers.

“Farmers are continuing to work around the clock to produce the nation’s food and will be rightly asking government for adequate tools and support to manage a species that could impact their business and on food production.”

More than half (52 per cent) of British voters think Liz Truss will be a poor or terrible prime minister, with little more than one in 10 (12 per cent) expecting her to be good or great, according to a new poll.

Andrew Woodcock www.independent.co.uk 

And a clear majority believe the Tory leadership frontrunner will be worse than every other prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, with the exception of Boris Johnson.

The findings, in a YouGov poll, indicate that Ms Truss can expect little or no “honeymoon period” if she is confirmed as Mr Johnson’s successor as expected on Monday.

And she may struggle to drum up the enthusiasm of her own party’s supporters, with Conservative voters regarding her as a downgrade from Johnson, with 43 per cent saying she will be worse and just 20 per cent better than the outgoing PM.

If she wins, she will face the unique position for an incoming prime minister of having neither a mandate from a general election nor the support of a majority of her MPs in a leadership vote, having relied for her victory on the ballot of about 160,000 grassroots Tory members.

Just 2 per cent of those questioned said they expected Ms Truss to be a “great” prime minister, against 10 per cent who said she would be “good”, 20 per cent “average”, 17 per cent “poor” and 35 per cent “terrible”.

Her ratings were comparable with those of Mr Johnson, who is being forced out of office after a revolt by his own MPs: 5 per cent of voters thought he had been a “great” occupant of 10 Downing Street, 17 per cent “good”, 19 per cent “average”, 16 per cent “poor” and 39 per cent “terrible”.

In a head-to-head, voters were evenly split over whether they preferred Truss to Johnson, with each favoured by 24 per cent and 37 per cent saying they were about the same.

But Ms Truss rated poorly compared to any other PM of the past 40 years.

Forty-five per cent expected her to be worse than Mrs Thatcher, against 9 per cent who said she would be better. Compared with John Major, Truss was seen as worse by 36-14 per cent, and she trailed Tony Blair by 42-20, Gordon Brown by 38-21, David Cameron by 38-15 and Theresa May by 34-19.

Meanwhile, her proposals for tax cuts in response to the energy crisis were regarded less favourably by voters than Keir Starmer’s plan for a price freeze and Rishi Sunak’s promise of direct payments and a VAT holiday.

Presented with the plans without the politicians advocating them being identified, just 47 per cent said Truss’s scheme was a good idea, against 69 per cent for the Labour leader and 62 per cent for the former chancellor.

Just 13 per cent said they had faith in Ms Truss to deal with the cost of living crisis, well behind the 31 per cent who trusted Starmer and 21 per cent Sunak on the issue.

The cost of living was the top issue that voters felt the new PM should be focusing on, with three-quarters (74 per cent) naming it in their top three, followed by the economy (47 per cent) and climate change (28 per cent).

And 77 per cent said the government was not doing enough to support people faced with rocketing bills for essentials such as heating, food and fuel.

On a raft of issues ranging from the Ukraine war to Brexit, the NHS and managing the economy, large majorities said they did not trust Ms Truss to make the right decisions for the country. Even on her best subject of defence, those distrusting her outnumber those with faith by a margin of 53 to 24 per cent.

YouGov’s findings were based on two surveys, of 1,708 adults in the UK on 24-25 August and of another 1,651 on 29-30 August.

Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has accused the Conservatives of planning to lose the next general election.

Gemma McSherry www.theguardian.com 

Streeting said he was confident Labour would win when the country next goes to the polls.

Speaking before the new Conservative leader and prime minister is announced on Monday, Streeting told the Daily Telegraph: “I think the Conservatives are planning to lose the next general election.”

The current government’s plans to cap the number of medical students, Streeting believes, is evidence that the Conservatives have “concluded there’s no point recruiting medicine trainees because they’re not going to come into work until there’s a Labour government in place. I think that’s recklessly shortsighted”.

Streeting went on to say that the UK government should be “developing our homegrown talent for the NHS”, adding that it was turning away “bright young people from university places they desperately want to take up. That is threatening the future pipeline.”

In August, the education secretary, James Cleverly, said the NHS was increasing recruitment, despite the government’s refusal to lift the cap on medical student admissions this year.

Streeting went on to voice doubt on Tory plans for the NHS, suggesting that extra funding for the health service would have to come with some kind of reform.

“There’s no doubt in my mind – and this is why Liz Truss is being dishonest with the public – that there isn’t a fix to the NHS crisis that doesn’t involve more investment,” he told the Telegraph.

Streeting said that he could not foresee a fix for the NHS in the long term that “can involve huge amounts of extra money every year. Because at that point, the NHS begins to look unsustainable. We can’t just keep on pouring in more money.”

After his own successful treatment for kidney cancer, Streeting said he was keen to ensure that the NHS is fit for purpose in the 21st century. He said: “We can’t let our reverence [for the NHS] prevent us from making the changes that are needed.”

“There will always be people in the system who say, ‘But that’s not how we do things’. I want to work with the system rather than to fight the system. But, ultimately I’ll always do what’s in the best interest of patients.”

His comments came as the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said he was ready to deliver his plans to tackle the challenges facing the country.

Starmer, who turned 60 on Friday, told the Daily Mirror: “I am going to set out in my conference speech our roadmap, our plan for Britain and how Labour will give Britain the fresh start it needs.”

The party’s plans to help with fuel bills include freezing the energy price cap until April.

He also vowed to address longer-term challenges such as the climate crisis and rebuilding the economy.

Wes Streeting praises staff; condems government

Waiting times at Derriford Hospital have have been slammed by the shadow health secretary after he saw the challenges first hand. 

Philip Churm, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Wes Streeting met patients and staff at the hospital alongside Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Plymouth Moor View Gareth Derrick. 

It comes as figures show over 46,000 people waiting for treatment at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, with 41 percent of them on the list for more than 18 weeks.  

Ambulance waiting times were also criticised as official figures show patients using South Western Ambulances face among the longest delays in the country. 

Response times for category 2 patients, including heart attacks and strokes,  typically take more than an hour, compared to target times of just 18 minutes. 

Wes Streeting said: “Despite the huge efforts of the dedicated staff and management at Derriford Hospital, I saw first-hand the patients waiting in ambulances, the queues outside A&E and the desperately sad sight of patients on trolleys in a corridor. 

“This isn’t unique to Derriford; we’re seeing this right across the country as a direct result of Conservative mismanagement of the NHS.”

Gareth Derrick added: “We met the chief executive and senior clinical staff at Derriford and can only be impressed by their spirit and determination to improve the care they provide to patients. 

“But the improvements needed can only come from political commitment and that is sorely lacking under the Conservative government.”

However, Tories have pledged to increase the NHS budget by £34 billion by 2023-24 which they say is the biggest cash boost in its history.

The money includes providing £850 million for 20 hospital upgrades and £2.7 billion for six new hospitals. 

But the favourite to win the Tory leadership competition, Liz Truss, was  criticised recently for pledging to divert billions of pounds earmarked for the NHS into social care. 

In 2009, Ms Truss co-authored a report calling for patients to be charged for GP appointments and doctors’ pay to be cut by 10 per cent.  Truss’s leadership campaign team insisted “co-authoring a document does not mean that someone supports every proposal put forward.” 

Last month Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard visited Derriford Hospital with shadow minister for mental health and Labour MP for Tooting, Rosena Allin-Khan. 

Mr Pollard spoke of the need for “bigger thinking” by the government to address pressures on the NHS and to find an alternative to current GP-led system of healthcare.

“Candidates were questioned by various stakeholders with a final interview panel made up of senior leaders from across Devon and Cornwall.”

Anyone able to shed any light on this process of selection in “smoke filled rooms”? – Owl

Philip Churm, www.midweekherald.co.uk 

The preferred candidate to become chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police has been named as Will Kerr OBE, a deputy chief constable in Scotland. 

In selecting DCC Kerr, police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez described him as “an exceptional strategic leader” and said his “passion for the job and the high standards he holds himself and others to shone through” in the recruitment process. 

The post of chief constable became vacant following the retirement of Shaun Sawyer last month. 

Mr Sawyer had been in the role for more than a decade. 

DCC Kerr spent over 27 years in the Police Service of Northern Ireland and joined the National Crime Agency (NCA) on secondment in 2017. He was awarded an OBE in 2015 and joined Police Scotland in 2018.

As the NCA’s director of vulnerabilities, he was national lead for co-ordinating the UK’s domestic and international response to child sexual abuse and exploitation, modern slavery, human trafficking and organised immigration crime.

But there has been controversy in Scotland over the closure of 140 police stations and office since 2013, although most occurred before DCC Kerr was appointed. 

Commissioner Hernandez said: “In Will we were presented with someone who was not only an exceptional strategic leader, but someone who was able to clearly articulate how he would use this leadership to develop a police force that worked hand in glove with our residents and partners to tackle crime and protect the most vulnerable in society.”

The recruitment process was supported by the College of Policing, and candidates were questioned by various stakeholders with a final interview panel made up of senior leaders from across Devon and Cornwall.

The commissioner’s decision will now be scrutinised at a hearing of the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel held in Plymouth on Friday 16 September.

 

The result of the Conservative contest for PM won’t be known for sure until September 5, but with Foreign Secretary Truss the runaway favorite, POLITICO compiled every policy commitment Liz Truss has made during over 40 hours of hustings, as well as countless interviews and articles on the campaign trail. It is in effect the 149 separate policy pledges that make up the Truss manifesto.

To give you a flavour of what to expect from a Truss PM, Owl is posting “at a glance” summaries of some of these, about a third, in two parts:

Part One – The Economy

Part Two – Health and Social Care; Leveling up, housing and communities; Work and pensions 

For other policy areas such as the Environment, Energy, Home Office and Transport please see www.politico.eu

Every pledge or promise made by the UK’s likely next prime minister during the leadership campaign.

Compiled by Noah Keate www.politico.eu

Health and social care 

POLICY: Reduce layers of NHS management

DATE & PLATFORM: July 26, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

What I want to see is fewer layers of management in the National Health Service and less central direction. TalkTV

POLICY: Commit to 40 new hospitals

DATE & PLATFORM: July 26, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

I’m committed to the 40 new hospitals that we have agreed to build. TalkTV

POLICY: Support extra social care funding

DATE & PLATFORM: July 29, interview

SHE SAID WHAT?

I support the extra money that we’re putting into social care. ConservativeHome

POLICY: Oppose under-18s making medical gender transition

DATE & PLATFORM: July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds

SHE SAID WHAT?

I do not believe that under-18s should be able to make irreversible decisions about their own bodies that they might come to regret later. Leadership hustings, Leeds

POLICY: Review pensions of doctors

DATE & PLATFORM: August 4, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

I’ve met a lot of doctors who’ve gone into retirement because of their pensions, I need to sort that out. Sky News

POLICY: Bring doctors out of retirement

DATE & PLATFORM: August 4, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

There are many doctors who very kindly came out of retirement to help during COVID … what I’d like to do is see what we can do to encourage those people to come back into the profession. Sky News

POLICY: Rule out another pandemic lockdown

DATE & PLATFORM: August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne

POLICY: Ensure NHS budget rises in real terms

DATE & PLATFORM: August 9, leadership hustings in Darlington

POLICY: Deliver extra NHS funding through general taxation

DATE & PLATFORM: August 10, people’s forum

SHE SAID WHAT?

I’m committed to the extra funding, but I wouldn’t get that out of a National Insurance rise, I would get that out of general taxation.GB News

POLICY: Maintain abortion access across the United Kingdom

DATE & PLATFORM: August 17, leadership hustings in Belfast

POLICY: No tax relief for patients who opt for private health care

DATE & PLATFORM: August 19, leadership hustings

SHE SAID WHAT?

I wouldn’t introduce tax relief, I don’t believe that is the answer. GB News

POLICY: Ensure there is a mental health nurse in GP surgeries

DATE & PLATFORM: August 19, leadership hustings

SHE SAID WHAT?

I support having a mental nurse in GP surgeries to make sure people are supported. GB News

POLICY: Ensure relevant hospital wards are single sex

DATE & PLATFORM: August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham

POLICY: No new mask mandates

DATE & PLATFORM: August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich

Leveling up, housing and communities 

POLICY: Change how mortgages are assessed

DATE & PLATFORM: July 29, press release

SHE SAID WHAT?

Truss would support more first-time buyers into homeownership by allowing rent payments to be used as part of the affordability assessment for a mortgage.

This would be done through the upcoming mortgage review.Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Abolish top-down housing targets

DATE & PLATFORM: August 1, press release (letter to Conservative members)

SHE SAID WHAT?

I will abolish Soviet top-down housing targets. Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Create a “leveling up” funding formula to support struggling areas

DATE & PLATFORM: August 18, press release

SHE SAID WHAT?

Truss will “equalise and level up government spending across the UK, to ensure areas which have been left behind get the funding they need.” Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Deliver West Midlands RailHub and Battery Gigafactory in Coventry

DATE & PLATFORM:  August 22, press release

SHE SAID WHAT?

Truss’ “government will deliver the Midlands Rail Hub and put its weight behind the battery gigafactory in Coventry.” Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Expand urban density by building higher-rise accommodation

DATE & PLATFORM: July 15, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

In our cities, I think we should be building up more … we should make more of the space we have. ConservativeHome

POLICY: Ensure incremental housing development in the countryside

DATE & PLATFORM: July 15, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

In our countryside and rural areas, I’m a supporter of allowing incremental expansion of villages rather than these massive targets that land on the back of local councils. ConservativeHome

POLICY: Devolve more power to metro mayors (such as Andy Street of the West Midlands)

DATE & PLATFORM: August 22, article

SHE SAID WHAT?

I want to empower Andy further, giving him and the West Midlands Combined Authority the powers they need to drive growth across the West Midlands. Express and Star

Work and pensions 

POLICY:  Reform welfare

DATE & PLATFORM: July 16, interview

SHE SAID WHAT?

We’ve got 5 million people economically inactive — we need to get those people into work. We need to reform welfare. The Spectator

POLICY: Examine incentives in benefits system

DATE & PLATFORM: August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne

SHE SAID WHAT?

It’s a combination of incentives within the benefit system as well as actively providing people with the skills and training they need to do those jobs. Leadership hustings, Eastbourne

POLICY: No further help for WASPI women

DATE & PLATFORM: August 10, people’s forum

SHE SAID WHAT?

On the specific case of the WASPI women, I don’t think it was handled very well at the time … but I think where we are now, it will be very difficult to go back. GB News

POLICY: Review war widow inequality

DATE & PLATFORM: August 10, people’s forum

SHE SAID WHAT?

It is very, very unfair that war widows, who then remarry, are essentially penalized. GB News

POLICY: Fully committed to triple lock pensions

DATE & PLATFORM: August 16, leadership hustings in Perth

The result of the Conservative contest for PM won’t be known for sure until September 5, but with Foreign Secretary Truss the runaway favorite, POLITICO compiled every policy commitment Liz Truss has made during over 40 hours of hustings, as well as countless interviews and articles on the campaign trail. It is in effect the 149 separate policy pledges that make up the Truss manifesto.

To give you a flavour of what to expect from a Truss PM, Owl is posting “at a glance” summaries of some of these, about a third, in two parts:

Part One – The Economy

Part Two – Health and Social Care; Leveling up, housing and communities; Work and pensions 

For other policy areas such as the Environment, Energy, Home Office and Transport please see www.politico.eu

Every pledge or promise made by the UK’s likely next prime minister during the leadership campaign.

Compiled by Noah Keate www.politico.eu

The Economy 

POLICY: Deliver an emergency budget

DATE & PLATFORM:August 6, article

SHE SAID WHAT?

I would hit the ground running by bringing in an emergency budget, charting a firm course to get our economy growing in order to help fund our public services and NHS.The Daily Telegraph

POLICY: Scrap April’s National Insurance rise

DATE & PLATFORM:July 10, press release

SHE SAID WHAT?

Liz will reverse the 1.25 percent rise in National Insurance, which was introduced by leadership rival Rishi Sunak in April to help pay for health and social care. Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Scrap corporation tax rise

DATE & PLATFORM: July 15, online Q&A

SHE SAID WHAT?

I would not do the corporation tax hikes because I think it’s vitally important that we’re attracting investment into our country.ConservativeHome

POLICY: Commits to introducing no new taxes

DATE & PLATFORM: August 31, leadership hustings in London

POLICY: Remove green energy levies from energy bills

DATE & PLATFORM: July 14, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

We do need to remove the green energy levy and find a better way of delivering our net zero targets because we’re hammering consumers but we’re also hammering businesses.Channel 4

POLICY: Provide support for cost of energy bills

DATE & PLATFORM: August 25, article

SHE SAID WHAT?

To those of you feeling the squeeze, my message is clear: I will ensure support is on its way and we get through these tough times.Daily Mail

POLICY: Oppose freeze in energy price cap 

DATE & PLATFORM: August 20, interview

SHE SAID WHAT?

But she dismissed Sir Keir Starmer’s call for a freeze on the energy price cap — dubbing it a “sticking plaster that will cost money, but isn’t actually addressing the root cause” of the problem.The Sun

POLICY: Oppose any further windfall tax on energy firms

DATE & PLATFORM: July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds

POLICY: Distances herself from spending cuts

DATE & PLATFORM: July 22, press briefing, Peterborough

SHE SAID WHAT?

I’m certainly not talking about public spending cuts.Press briefing

POLICY: A 10-year plan for the economy

DATE & PLATFORM: July 29, interview

SHE SAID WHAT?

What I will do is lay out a 10-year plan for public service reform, and a 10-year plan to change Britain’s economic growth rate. We should be growing on average at 2.5 percent.ConservativeHome

POLICY: Pay off COVID debt over longer period

DATE & PLATFORM: July 14, leadership campaign launch

SHE SAID WHAT?

The way I see the COVID debt is it’s a one-off event … We should pay that debt off over a longer period of time.Campaign launch

POLICY: Only start paying off debt in 2025 

DATE & PLATFORM: July 25, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

Under my plans, we would start paying down the debt in three years’ time.BBC

POLICY: Maintain Bank of England’s independence, but reassess its mandate

DATE & PLATFORM: July 17, leadership debate

SHE SAID WHAT?

I completely support the Bank of England’s independence … the last time the mandate was set was in 1997, in completely different times.ITV

POLICY: Review taxation of families and carers

DATE & PLATFORM: July 14, leadership campaign launch

SHE SAID WHAT?

We will review the taxation of families to ensure that people aren’t penalized for taking time out to care for children or elderly relatives.Campaign launch

POLICY: Review business rates

DATE & PLATFORM: August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham

POLICY: Review inheritance tax

DATE & PLATFORM: July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds

POLICY: Review taxes for the self-employed

DATE & PLATFORM: August 20, interview

SHE SAID WHAT?

If you’re self-employed, you don’t get the same benefits as being in a big company. You don’t get paid holidays, you didn’t get those benefits. So the tax system should reflect that more.The Sun

POLICY: Invest in struggling areas

DATE & PLATFORM: August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham

SHE SAID WHAT?

What I would also do is change the Treasury rules about investment, so we’re putting more investment into the areas that don’t have it already, not the areas that do have it already.Leadership hustings, Birmingham

POLICY: Scrap all EU-derived regulation by the end of 2023

DATE & PLATFORM: July 22, press release

SHE SAID WHAT?

Liz Truss sets out her credentials as the “Brexit delivery” Prime Minister with a pledge to set a “sunset” deadline for every piece of EU-derived regulation, making sure all EU law is off the statute books by the end of 2023.Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Deregulate insurance industry

DATE & PLATFORM: July 22, press release

SHE SAID WHAT?

New regulation will be introduced to preserve the original goal of Solvency II – the protection of people’s investments – while unleashing billions of investment capital.Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Deregulate the City

DATE & PLATFORM: August 5, interview

SHE SAID WHAT?

But Truss does have the zeal of the convert when it comes to Brexit, talking about seizing the “opportunities” of Britain’s departure from the EU, including in deregulating the City.Financial Times

POLICY: Create new “Investment Zones” and liberalize freeports for growth

DATE & PLATFORM: July 24, press release

SHE SAID WHAT?

Truss’ government will work with local communities to identify sites ripe for redevelopment, with a preference for brownfield sites, and transform them into Investment Zones – or what have been coined “full fat freeports.”Liz 4 Leader

POLICY: Encourage workers back into offices

DATE & PLATFORM: August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne

SHE SAID WHAT?

I do think it is important that we get more people back into offices, because we need to make sure our town centers and city centers thrive.Leadership hustings, Eastbourne

POLICY: Resist a cashless society

DATE & PLATFORM: August 17, leadership hustings in Belfast