Wildlife Minister Richard Benyon appeared to be confused tonight over the law concerning a poison associated with the illegal killing of birds of prey.
The use of the toxic pesticide carbofuran is banned throughout the UK, however, Benyon recently declined to follow recommendations by the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee to make possession of carbofuran a criminal offence in England and Wales matching the law in Scotland.
Responding to a question from the audience at Reading’s Museum of English Rural Life annual lecture on his failure to criminalise possession of carbofuran, Mr Benyon claimed that possession is already a criminal offence in England and Wales.
Although the use of carbofuran has been illegal since 2001, it is still associated with wild bird poisoning incidents. Since it has no legitimate use, MPs believe that making possession a prosecutable offence would discourage unscrupulous gamekeepers from using it to kill raptors which they believe prey on their stocks of game birds. The current legislation makes possession illegal according to health and safety laws, but the Environmental Audit Committee want to make it a criminal offence.
Richard Benyon is closely associated with the shooting set and owns a pheasant shoot on his Berkshire country estate and a grouse moor in Scotland.
His department was also responsible for discredited moves to allow the destruction of buzzard nests on shooting estates, resulting in a humiliating u-turn following outraged lobbying by conservation groups.
Whether Mr Benyon is confused, forgetful or just plain ignorant about the law concerning key issues in his portfolio, he seems more interested in being a friend of the gamekeeper than conserving British wildlife.
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