CM....
I have friends who agree with the cull and come friends who disagree with the cull. My main interest as a contributor to WAB, is to put the alternative point of view. Personally, I think that a cull is justifiable in this instance. I suppose it's possible to have a discussion against the cull on the various 'animal liberation' forums, and to have a discussion in favour of the cull on the 'farming' forums. The great thing about WAB, is that such issues can be discussed in a fraternal and constructive way. I've learnt alot, myself, about the science, the history and development of this issue, and looked up read and understood the various studies and reports. Obviously, there are some people on both sides of this debate that have entrenched views, but if the outcome of this discussion is better understanding of each others point of view, than that's good. WAB is the place to have this discussion.
On the issue of party politics, I find there is no 'traditional' party divide on this. What I find locally, is that the Conservative Party in Wales are not in direct challenge to Labour in their traditional areas in South Wales, and are most supportive of the cull, presumably in the hope of picking up votes from rural areas off the Liberals and Plaid. In rural parts of Wales there are heartlands of Wales which are Plaid, and parts of Wales which are Liberal heartlands. Plaid, however, actually get most of their votes from the industrial areas, and the Liberals have one seat in the middle of Cardiff. I think it's wrong to say any of the four main political parties voted for the cull to 'satisfy the farmers'. However, I think in the area directly effected by the cull, Preseli and Ceredigion, the main party challengers for these seats in the election are all pro-cull. It actually surprised me that those against the cull are suggesting such tactics as boycotting Welsh produce, or demonising organic farming, as I suspect this will certainly alienate their cause.
Note : I recently, and a discussion on another forum on the issue, and found that the badger group concerned had not translated their literature/website into the Welsh language, absolutely essential in an area which was predominantly Welsh speaking. I translated their material for them, even though I did not agree with what was being said. You don't have to agree to respect each others views.
