Shocking badger cull film on BBC will prompt anger like Post Office scandal drama, claims Queen star Brian May

Queen guitarist Brian May says a “shocking “ film he has made dismantling some of the science behind the long-running badger cull will provoke the same outrage in viewers as the Post Office scandal drama.

The programme, which comes two days after the government performed a U-turn on its pre-election pledge to halt the cull, contains “dynamite” revelations, according to one scientist who has seen it.

Sir Brian says the broadcast on BBC2 today at 9pm will change cattle farming forever by helping farmers defeat bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), saving their cattle and their livelihoods.

open image in gallery

It is estimated more than 230,000 badgers have been killed since the badger cull began in England in 2013, in an attempt to eradicate bTB, whose spread governments have blamed on badgers.

Filming for the programme looks at how slurry can spread the disease and how specialist vet Dick Sibley drastically reduced bTB at Gatcombe Farm in Devon through sanitation techniques.

Farming industry bodies have expressed alarm at the programme. National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw wrote to the BBC before the broadcast, disputing the science in the documentary.

He said: “I am also extremely concerned the impact this programme will have on the mental health of farmers who are still impacted by this terrible disease on farm.”

The farmer-funded Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) said it feared the show risked oversimplifying a complex issue, “potentially misleading viewers by placing undue blame on cattle”.

But the programme-makers say the “heartbreaking” testaments of farmers featured show government policy has failed them.

Sir Brian said: “A lot of people who have seen it have said they felt outraged like they did after seeing the Post Office documentary.”

That documentary, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, prompted nationwide anger, leading to wrongly convicted subpostmasters being cleared and compensation payments fast-tracked.

open image in gallery

The 77-year-old added: “It’s pretty shocking, but it had to be… Yes – some will pour disbelief and abuse in our heads, but history will prove us right. And our revelations will help farmers solve a horrific problem which has so far resisted solution.”

He said he and his Save Me Trust charity believed they could finally establish the “absolute innocence of badgers and the insanity of killing them”.

The trust says the culls are cruel to farmers, cattle and badgers.

This week, government body Natural England launched a consultation on a new round of badger culling in Cumbria, and it is understood others in Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire or Oxfordshire could be next.

The Labour government is relying on the same civil servants for bTB advice as the Tories did, and wants earlier reports to be redone, according to longtime badger campaigner and Lib Dem former election candidate Dominic Dyer.

open image in gallery

“None of them will put their careers on the line and admit they were wrong,” said Dominic Dyer.

The Badger Trust said government departments were “not fit for purpose” and needed an overhaul to end misinformation and confusion for farmers.

“Defra has knowingly focused on an ineffective badger culling policy in an unsuccessful attempt to control bTB,  whilst failing to provide vital information and support to farmers and vets to help them get out of this situation,” it said.

The Badger Crowd has crowdfunded to launch a judicial review to challenge badger culling, to which the government is due to respond next week.

Peter Hambly, chief executive of the Badger Trust, said: “It is clear that, like everyone else involved in this debacle, the farmers have been badly let down by misinformation and distractions.”

The AHDB said it worried that the disease control measures highlighted in the programme are portrayed as a universal solution but that they are unrealistic for farms to implement.

“TB transmission varies significantly from farm to farm and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this devastating disease. It has come to light that unfortunately, the suggested solution promoted has not been effective,” it said.

Natural England has licensed cull extensions to kill up to 28,000 badgers this autumn, according to ecologist Tom Langton, of the Badger Crowd, who said the BBC programme included “dynamite” revelations.

Minister for food security and rural affairs Daniel Zeichner said: “Bovine tuberculosis has been a tragedy for famers, vets and conservationists with thousands of cattle lost to the disease and badgers culled.”

Tackling the disease was his top priority, he said, adding: “I am clear that we will beat bTB and end the cull once and for all, as we committed to doing in our manifesto.

“I will be working at pace and in partnership with farmers, vets, conservationists and scientists to bring step change to build an ambitious eradication package that protects both livelihoods and wildlife and stamps out this awful disease.”