The Senedd has overwhelmingly approved a Reform UK motion calling on the new Welsh government to change its approach to managing bovine TB, opening itself to the possible use of badger culling as a means of curbing the disease.

The previous Welsh Labour government first set itself against badger culling in March 2012, when the then-Rural Affairs Minister, John Griffiths, officially scrapped previous plans for a cull in favour of a comprehensive badger vaccination programme. It maintained that position consistently, even as culling was piloted and then rolled out across England under the Coalition and successive Conservative governments.

Plaid Cymru, which formed a new Welsh government after its election victory in May, has not expressed opposition to culling in principle. Its manifesto for that election pledged to:

“Maintain robust biosecurity standards, and draw on the advice of the TB Technical Advisory Group in implementing a new approach to managing bTB – one which recognises wildlife as a source of infection and enables scientifically validated control methods.”

While not explicit, the reference to ‘recognis[ing] wildlife as a source of infection’ clearly suggested openness to culling as part of a suite of management techniques.  

Reform’s motion in the Senedd yesterday appears to have been crafted carefully to court Plaid’s support, aping its language on biosecurity, the TB Technical Advisory Group and wildlife as an infection source. It pushes the Welsh government to go only marginally further, calling on it to:

“ensure that, in the event that the TB Technical Advisory Group recommends targeted wildlife control, including culling, such recommendations are given full and proper consideration and, where supported by the evidence, form part of the Welsh Government’s approach to bovine TB eradication.”

In the event, Reform UK succeeded in not only carrying the motion but winning the support and votes of Plaid Cymru, as well as the Conservatives and the sole Liberal Democrat.

None of this means a Welsh badger cull is imminent, or even that it will necessarily happen at all. Llyr Gruffydd MS, the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, said that the evidence showed a “step change” was needed in Wales’s approach to managing bovine TB, but what precisely that would look like must depend on the expert advice:

“While I recognise that wildlife can play a role in the transmission of bovine TB, it is important that we don't pretend that wildlife is responsible in every case, nor should we prejudge the conclusions of our expert advisors.

The technical advisory group is there to provide independent scientific expertise and advice, while the programme board brings together a wealth of practical lived experience and expertise from across the sector.

I'm currently awaiting further advice from both groups on the role of wildlife and wildlife interventions, amongst other topics, and I look forward to considering the evidence base and their advice carefully.”

The Countryside Alliance believes that this approach strikes the right balance. The interests of farmers and cattle are not best served by dogmatism, either against badger culling or for it. What matters is following the evidence wherever it leads, taking whatever steps it shows are necessary to eradicate this devastating disease.