Bollitics: VT General Election Poll #4 - Leaders Debate one

[drat01]

Just wanted to ask Ian (Drat); what is the Labour policy on the reintroduction of the European Beaver into the wildlife? That to be fair could swing my vote.

You know the rule Paul on VT - no baps or flaps - Beavers cannot be discussed

[PauloBarnesi]

Just wanted to ask Ian (Drat); what is the Labour policy on the reintroduction of the European Beaver into the wildlife? That to be fair could swing my vote.

You know the rule Paul on VT - no baps or flaps - Beavers cannot be discussed

typical political move; shift the question, avoid answering.

My honourable friend Mr Beaver wants to know. Will he be forever held behind barbed wire, or will he able to return to his natural habitat

[Clarry]

Just wanted to ask Ian (Drat); what is the Labour policy on the reintroduction of the European Beaver into the wildlife? That to be fair could swing my vote.

didn't the UK used to have wolves and bears?

i'd chomp if the odd bear and wolf was about.

then we wouldn't need to kill foxes they'd do it for us

But imagine what would happen when the first person is killed by a tree felled by a Beaver. The Health and Safety brigade would have a field day.

[kidlewis]

Just wanted to ask Ian (Drat); what is the Labour policy on the reintroduction of the European Beaver into the wildlife? That to be fair could swing my vote.

didn't the UK used to have wolves and bears?

i'd chomp if the odd bear and wolf was about.

then we wouldn't need to kill foxes they'd do it for us

But imagine what would happen when the first person is killed by a tree felled by a Beaver. The Health and Safety brigade would have a field day.

Beavers would have to fill in risk assessments, wear hard hats, ensure only beavers were on site with proper safety gear and ensure that someone on site has basic first aid training on humans.

failing that just drag the body into the water and weight it down with stones so it decays under water so the evidence is removed.

[PauloBarnesi]

Just wanted to ask Ian (Drat); what is the Labour policy on the reintroduction of the European Beaver into the wildlife? That to be fair could swing my vote.

didn't the UK used to have wolves and bears?

i'd chomp if the odd bear and wolf was about.

then we wouldn't need to kill foxes they'd do it for us

But imagine what would happen when the first person is killed by a tree felled by a Beaver. The Health and Safety brigade would have a field day.

The majority of animals killed by Beavers are infact Beavers who miscalculate how the tree will fall and manage to very sadly kill themselves

[drat01]

I will dam-ed if I know.

In 2001 the Wildwood Trust with Kent Wildlife Trust imported two families of European beaver from Norway to manage a wetland nature reserve. This project pioneered the use of beaver as a wildlife conservation tool in the UK. The success of this project has provided the inspiration behind other projects in Gloucestershire and Scotland. The beavers are living in a 130-acre (0.53 km2) fenced enclosure at the wetland of Ham Fen. Subsequently the population of beaver has been supplemented in 2005 and 2008. The beaver continue to help restore the wetland by rehydrating the soils.[12]

Six European Beavers were released in 2005 into a fenced lakeside area in Gloucestershire.[13]

In 2007 a specially-selected group of four Bavarian beavers were released into a fenced enclosure in the Martin Mere nature reserve in Lancashire.[14] It is hoped that the beavers will form a permanent colony, and the younger pair will be transferred to another location when the adults begin breeding again.[15] The progress of the group will be followed as part of the BBC's Autumnwatch television series.

A colony of beavers is established in a large enclosure at Bamff, Perthshire.[16]

A beaver living wild was confirmed in Scotland in early 2007 and was captured. It may have been released illegally.[17]

In 2005, the Scottish Government turned down a licence application for unfenced reintroduction. However, in late 2007 a further application was made for a release project in Knapdale, Argyll.[18] This application was accepted, and the first beavers were released on the 29th May 2009.[19][20] The Scottish charity Trees for Life plans to reintroduce beavers in the Scottish Highlands.[21][22]

With the exception of the Knapdale animals, all the beavers in the United Kingdom today are in semi-enclosed sites and not fully released into the wild. A 2009 report by Natural England, the Government’s conservation body, and the People's Trust for Endangered Species recommended that beaver be reintroduced to the wild in England.[2

Baroness Byford (a Tory!) asked

To ask Her Majesty's Government what risk assessment they have undertaken on proposals to reintroduce beavers into England; what costs are involved; and what assessment they have made of the possible decline in the well-being of existing wildlife.

- she didn't like the idea it would seem

The reply back was

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The results of a joint scientific study into the desirability and feasibility of reintroducing the European beaver to England were published on 18 March 2009 by Natural England and the People's Trust for Endangered Species.

The report considers the impacts that a beaver reintroduction might have and the conditions under which a reintroduction could be made. It concludes that the costs of mitigating damage caused by beavers are likely to be low relative to the economic benefits of the ecosystem services which they may provide, such as assisting with river and floodplain restoration. It identified the need for a full cost-benefit analysis as part of the planning stage of any beaver reintroduction programme. Reintroductions elsewhere in Europe may also provide valuable evidence on issues that need to be considered.

The report also includes an assessment of the likely impact of a reintroduction of beavers on British plants and animals, concluding that for all the taxa studied, including plants, invertebrates, amphibians, fish, birds and mammals, there are likely to be biodiversity gains, mainly arising from the creation of more diverse and naturally functioning habitats.

I will arrange for a copy of the report to be placed in the House of Commons Library.

30 Mar 2009 : Column WA178

Natural England has not made any decisions yet about whether reintroductions of beavers should take place in England. In considering whether to license a reintroduction programme we would expect Natural England to take account of the applicable International Union for Conservation of Nature guidelines, and to consider the views of interested parties. Natural England would also need to be satisfied that the reintroduction would not have a significant adverse impact on natural or semi-natural habitats, native wildlife or socio-economic interests and that measures could be put in place to deal with any unforeseen problems, should they occur.

Seems like Tories don't like beaver where others do!

[kidlewis]

nowhere in her quote suggests she didn't like the idea. Merely asking if they have looked at the impacts on the current ecosystem of bringing beavers back. which is a fair point.

I'd be more worried if she said "sounds awesome lets do it now".

You can't just throw a few beavers in a river and "see how it goes", you need to surely study their effects in other parts of the world and see what impacts that might have on the eco system here.

Beavers are pretty awesome, and would welcome them to make dams and the like in our rivers.

I made a dam once in a stream in Wales, took about 2 days then the farmer came and gave me a rollocking because I have actually started to flood his field and raised the water level enough to prevent his quadbike from going through it.

like most men I do like a nice beaver.

[PauloBarnesi]

Beavers are pretty awesome, and would welcome them to make dams and the like in our rivers.

I made a dam once in a stream in Wales, took about 2 days then the farmer came and gave me a rollocking because I have actually started to flood his field and raised the water level enough to prevent his quadbike from going through it.

like most men I do like a nice beaver.

Are you actually a beaver?

[PauloBarnesi]

Sad this guy isn’t standing. Added much colour to the campaign

[drat01]

What about Martin Coxall (Tory) who was arrested at a Prescott thing today for fighting? - Ooops apparently attacked two women?

Where are the rosettes and kissing babies?

[PauloBarnesi]

A TORY candidate was arrested after scrapping with John Prescott during a visit to the East End.

The former Deputy Prime Minister had to abandon his walkabout in Chrisp Street Market when he was confronted by three men, believed to be members of the Tower Hamlets Conservatives.

They were holding signs referring to Prescott's infamous 'Two Jags' nickname as they tried to push their way through the crowd of 50 Labour supporters, including Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick.

But as a Labour activist snatched a sign from Tory India and Lansbury candidate Martin Coxall, a confrontation ensued and a woman fell to the ground.

Police arrived and confirmed after the incident they had arrested Mr Coxall but would not confirm the offence.

Prescott had to continue his speech in the Labour party office in Market Lane.

He later told the Advertiser: "It is terrible that it happened.

"But this is the sort of thing that is creeping into politics now. This is what happens when people are determined to make trouble.

"I went to sea for 10 years so I am not bothered by anything like this.

[drat01]

Where is that story from Mr Barnes? You know the site rules - booooooooo - favouritism for mods :-)

Prezza refuses to discuss the reintroduction of the Beaver, but expresses disappointment at local Tories

[PauloBarnesi]

What’s Prescott’s take on the reintroduction of the Beaver?

[drat01]

What’s Prescott’s take on the reintroduction of the Beaver?

I suspect he couldn't eat two

[tonyh29]

What about Martin Coxall (Tory) who was arrested at a Prescott thing today for fighting?

i should hope he is kicked out the party ..but as per yesterday you've already stated your acceptance of this kind of thing so why are you making a big deal about it ?

it sounds as though there was a scuffle and the women were knocked / pushed over .. not sure that it is quite the same thing as attacked but I guess we will know more as the story emerges

[bickster]

[Guest Ricardomeister]

The way the question was worded plus the stupid smiley was clearly a sarcastic comment intimating that no other issues are important to me.

The smiley was to indicate puzzlement at what appeared to be a theme in your posts concentrating on one specific issue (probably more as a means to throw 'thinly-veiled' insults at groups of people and, perhaps, Tony specifically).

My question was about whether there was no other issue important to you and, as I said, it may well have been a challenge to you to explain why it has got the prominence in your posts (if that reason was not the one which I have suggested above).

Still no explanation of the 'people like you' comment, though.

I apologise to the Mods for having to repeat myself but I guess I will have to explain again why I took offence to your original comment which was quite obviously not a normal question, but a personal dig. Plenty on here have made comments about individual issues so I am not sure why I should treated any differently. If you had bothered to read my earlier posts you will have seen that the issue of hunting has a wider scope and is about the (lack of) values and compassion shown by the Tory party which will carry over into their treatment of humans. See below:

"Of course there are other important issues but this is also an important issue for me and the fact that you have to be so pathetically condescending does not change my view. For me the issue is not just about the barbaric killing of creatures who have as much right to a decent life as we do imo, it is about the lack of compassion and feeling which transfers to the weak and vulnerable in society. From my experience people who are cruel to animals are also cruel to people and people who have compassion for animals tend to have compassion for humans."

One prime example is the disgraceful decision by the Tories to make every single person on Incapacity Benefit appear before some Government stooge who's remit is to cut down drastically on the number of people claiming this benefit. This is both cruel and a waste of taxpayers' money. When combined with their Inheritance Tax policy this shows what their priorities are.

As for the "people like you" comment that was clearly indicating that I don't need people who make unintelligent personal digs, while trying unsucessfully to disguise them as genuine questions, to tell me what I can and cannot consider to be important issues. I don't feel the need to question what anybody else considers an important issue, whether or not I agree with their views on that issue, as that is their business just as what I consider to be important is my business.

That is my last word on the matter as I am not lowering myself to a slanging match.

[drat01]

What about Martin Coxall (Tory) who was arrested at a Prescott thing today for fighting?

i should hope he is kicked out the party ..but as per yesterday you've already stated your acceptance of this kind of thing so why are you making a big deal about it ?

it sounds as though there was a scuffle and the women were knocked / pushed over .. not sure that it is quite the same thing as attacked but I guess we will know more as the story emerges

Excellent spin there Mr H.

Acceptance of this kind? there is a major difference between self defence from a 60 year old bloke to an attack by a young guy on two women.

[Guest Ricardomeister]

Hilarious and so true!!

[PauloBarnesi]

If you had bothered to read my earlier posts you will have seen that the issue of hunting has a wider scope and is about the (lack of) values and compassion shown by the Tory party which will carry over into their treatment of humans.

Alan Clarke always seemed to be very fond of animals.