BBC Farming Today Tuesday 12th September 2017 Cull expert Prof. Rosie Woodroffe makes the point that DEFRA gave increased biosecurity advice in the cull zones so even if they could show a bTB decrease (which they can't) they couldn't attribute it to culling. It is revealing too that Nigel Gibbens admits they were going to go ahead whatever the analysis of the first 3 years said.Radio 4 Farming Today talks about the New English badger cull licenses this morning - from 3 minutes 15 seconds http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0930znx

We are concerned and deeply disappointed that the Government has issued 11 new Badger Cull licences to add to the 10 already existing.  We have always opposed badger culling because of the cruelty and inhumaneness of free shooting badgers in open fields at night, as confirmed by the government's own Independent Expert Panel.

Message from Dr. Brian May For the badgers - and actually for us as a nation - this cull is a tragedy and a disaster.What’s less understood is that it’s a tragedy for the farmers and the cattle too. The drive behind continuing with a policy which is failing seems to be that ‘we have to be seen to do something, rather than nothing