Elin Jones is being much feted in Wales for her "courage", and she has many supporters from her traditonal Welsh speaking farming background, all makes it harder in Wales to get the Assembly to see any sense as they think they are so right and it's only incomers and townies who are complaining.
Yes, Elin Jones is very popular with the cattle farming community right now (see for example
Elin Jones applauded over bovine TB stance in Farmers Weekly).
But she and the other pro-cull AMs would do well not to disregard the incomers and townies. They are, after all, voters. They are also tax payers. I wonder how many of them realise that the Welsh Assembly is now pursuing a course of action which which cost them dearly, yet provide little obvious benefit.
Although there is as yet no formal badger culling plan against which a judicial review can be mounted, Elin Jones has made it clear that a cull will take place. WalesOnline on July 15th stated (see
Wales will kill badgers – row):
THE Defra Secretary of State’s decision to rule out a badger cull in England will not affect proposals to go ahead with one in Wales.
Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones said nothing had changed and plans for a cull in a pilot area as part of a package of measures to eradicate bTB were proceeding as announced last April.
“It has not affected my thinking at all. Various expert groups set up to advise are gathering information as we speak on the various factors we need to take account of,” said Ms Jones. “Then at some point later in the year I will be given advice from my officials as to what, when and where.”
Notice the absence of "at what cost" from that last sentence. It seems that tax payers will be funding this monstrous and pointless slaughter regardless of the expense.
The cull will need to take place over a large area, it will need to be thorough, it will need to be humane in order to be licensed (which rules out the use of snares and gas) - and it will need to go on for years. This won't be cheap.
What will Welsh tax payers get in return? According to Badger Trust Cymru (using information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act), during a scientific briefing given to Elin Jones on 20 February 2008 (see
Badgers face extermination in Wales until 2030s, warns Badger Trust Cymru):
Professor John Bourne, chairman of the Independent Scientific Group, told Elin Jones that culling the population of between 2,400 and 2,700 badgers across areas of 300 square kilometres [116 square miles] is only likely to prevent 19 out of an expected 270 TB herd incidents over five years and "cannot be cost effective".
According to The Welsh Assembly Government website (see
Corporate Governance in the Welsh Assembly Government):
In Government high standards of corporate governance are especially important as the money being spent comes from the taxpayer.
The WAG website also states that regularity, propriety and value for money are important aspects of Corporate Governance, and has this to say about the third aspect:
Value for money is self-explanatory. It's about obtaining the best value possible for the use of public money in the conduct of Assembly business ...
I wonder what assessment the National Assembly Audit Committee and the
Wales Audit Office will make of the Assembly's decision to squander so much money on a badger cull?
