Animal welfare groups plan 'national day of action' against cull

Activists will hold a demonstration outside parliament on 3 September, calling for an end to the badger cull
Activists will hold a demonstration outside parliament on 3 September, calling for an end to the badger cull

Animal welfare groups are planning a 'national day of action' against the badger cull, with a planned date and place set for 3 September, outside parliament.

The action, spearheaded by Badger Trust, will include a 'mass lobby of MPs', as well as anti-cull petitions presented to Defra.

The group said it would be a 'powerful display of unity' as part of a bid to call for the new Labour government to end the cull.

The new Defra team has confirmed that the cull will continue, despite the party previously pledging to ban it.

Just before the election, Steve Reed, who is now the Defra Secretary, said his party will continue to allow pre-existing badger cull licences.

Speaking to the BBC, he said he was concerned that an immediate end to the cull would send “shocks into the system”.

But Peter Hambly, chief executive of Badger Trust, said Labour had to "decisively end the cull, and end it now".

He said: "We want the Labour government to follow the statement in their own manifesto and stop this ineffective badger cull."

According to Badger Trust's plan, on the morning of 3 September, activists will present petitions calling for an end to the cull to Defra Secretary Steve Reed.

From 11am to 2pm, they will gather in Parliament Square, where a demonstration will be held.

From around 1.30pm, protestors will then enter parliament, calling for an "immediate end to the ineffective and unethical cull".