Grouse shooting, extremism and the RSPB

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Tim Bonner writes: On Tuesday our Head of Shooting Liam Stokes and Amanda Anderson of the Moorland Association, which represents grouse moor owners, gave evidence to the Petitions Commission in the House of Commons on grouse shooting. This evidence session and a subsequent debate in Westminster Hall were triggered by an electronic petition of over 100,000 people arguing that 'driven grouse shooting' should be banned. How many of the signatories know what a grouse is has not been revealed, but as the rule stands 100,000 electronic clicks trigger such a process even if, as in this case, it has taken three years and three petitions to reach that figure. As we report elsewhere Liam and Amanda made the case for grouse moor management wonderfully well, but what was most interesting was the politics and positioning of those who supported the petition. It had been proposed by a man called Mark Avery, previously Director of Conservation at the RSPB, who wants grouse shooting banned amongst other reasons because it is "the Tory party at play". Interestingly Mr Avery was joined in the committee by a current RSPB employee, Jeff Knott, despite the fact that the RSPB claims to be neutral on shooting.

In fairness Mr Knott was clear from the start that the RSPB disagreed with Mr Avery and did not want to ban grouse shooting, but instead proposes some sort of licensing arrangement. Whatever its differences with Mr Avery, however, in supporting his debate the RSPB has entered the murky world of animal rights extremism as was soon graphically illustrated. Amongst Mr Avery's most prominent supporters was a man called Luke Steele who campaigns against grouse shooting as well as animal experimentation, and has links to the most extreme strands of the animal rights movement. He has a number of convictions relating to his campaigns, including most recently an 18-month prison sentence for intimidation and harassment of staff at an animal breeding establishment. It was no surprise therefore that there was a police presence in the committee room, but that did not deter Mr Avery and Mr Knott from being photographed with Steele outside Parliament afterwards.

The animal rights movement, even the bits of it which attempt to look respectable, has long had a blind spot about engagement with convicted criminals. Crimes such as grave desecration or attacking police officers are irrelevant as far as employment in its organisations are concerned. Mr Steele, for instance, now appears to be working for a group called Animal Aid which already employs another individual who has convictions for violence and fraud. Quite how you find your way onto the moral high ground from which it is fine to lecture others on their relationship with animals when you are quite so vile to humans I have never worked out, but this is a regular part of the extremist psyche.

The RSPB is not, or certainly was not, part of that world. By engaging in campaigns like this, however, it is aligning itself in a very physical way with bigots and criminals. Not all is right in the garden of the countryside, and there will always be areas of debate and conflict but the right way to resolve those differences is by reasoned dialogue between reasonable people. The RSPB is a great organisation which does an extraordinary amount of brilliant work, but if it stands alongside those who are against us just because we exist it risks destroying its credibility in the countryside.

Follow Tim on Twitter @CA_TimB