DEFRA has responded on behalf of the Westminster Government to the latest petition calling for a ban on driving shooting.
Here is DEFRA’s pathetic statement in full:
16th January 2025
The Government has no plans to ban driven grouse shooting. It recognises well-managed grouse shooting can be an important part of a local rural economy, providing direct and indirect employment.
This is a devolved matter. The Government appreciates that many people hold strong views on the issue of driven grouse shooting. The Government considers that well-managed shooting activities can bring benefits to the rural economy and can be beneficial for wildlife and habitat conservation. We will continue work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation. The Government has no plans to ban grouse shooting.
It is of course vital that wildlife and habitats are protected and the law is respected by those involved in the grouse shooting industry. Wild birds of prey, for example, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. There is evidence from Ewing et al (2023) and others to suggest a link between crimes against birds of prey and grouse shooting. The Government supports the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) – which helps prevent and detect crimes against wildlife by obtaining and disseminating intelligence and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations – and the Hen Harrier Task Force – which is led by the NWCU and aims to detect, deter, and disrupt offenders, in particular those persecuting rare hen harriers – by using technology and improving partnership working. Where wild birds of prey or any non-target species of wildlife are killed illegally the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime. All forms of predator management to protect grouse must be undertaken within the law, including compliance with animal welfare legislation.
Grouse shooting takes place in upland areas, which are important for a range of things including, food, fibre, water regulation, carbon storage, biodiversity and recreational opportunities. UK uplands have 75 per cent of the world’s remaining heather moorland and about 13 per cent of the world’s blanket bog.
Upland catchments provide 70 per cent of the UK’s drinking water. The Government is committed to delivering positive environmental and economic benefits and creating a more sustainable future for the English uplands, including preserving and restoring peatlands.
Healthy, active peat provides good habitat for grouse as well as numerous environmental benefits. Through the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, the Government is continuing to invest millions of pounds in peatland restoration, to aid climate change mitigation and nature recovery. The Government’s new and improved Countryside Stewardship offer will be available this summer. This scheme will encourage land managers to enter into agreements to enhance and protect the natural environment, including upland peatland habitats.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
ENDS
It looks similar to previous Government responses on this issue but of course this one is from a Labour Government, not a vested-interest Conservative Government, which makes it all the more inadequate.
I note the frequent use of the words ‘can’ and ‘should’ within the statement, without acknowledging that the reason this issue keeps being put in front of politicians is precisely because intensively managed driven grouse moors are NOT beneficial for wildlife and habitat conservation, that the laws around killing protected species are NOT respected, and when birds of prey are killed illegally on grouse moors the full force of the law is NOT applied.
The statement also perpetuates the long-held shooting industry myth that “UK uplands have 75 per cent of the world’s remaining heather moorland“. No, they do not and this inaccurate claim has long been debunked by leading academics (e.g. see here) and has even been acknowledged by the GWCT (see here). The petitioners, Wild Justice, have written to complain to the Petitions Committee about DEFRA’s reliance on factual inaccuracy.
I’ve seen it suggested on social media that this response from Government should ‘shut up Wild Justice once and for all”. Well, to quote Ian Hislop:
“When a Government in this country loses an election, the opposition doesn’t just say, ‘Oh, that’s absolutely right, I’ve got nothing to say for the next five years’. We are entitled to go on making the argument“.
If anything, this piss-poor response to the petition from DEFRA and the Westminster Government only strengthens our resolve to continue making the argument and they can expect to see an increase in our campaigning efforts over the coming months, to reach 100,000 signatures and force a debate at Westminster Hall.
If you haven’t signed the petition already, please do so here.
My colleague Mark Avery has written a blog about DEFRA’s response, here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
I read the Governments response and found it insulting. The point is that there is clearly a public revulsion against hunting and shooting, yet the UK Government is not taking this seriously. A rebuttal is not a valid response.
j felt the same Mike when read this. It was just talking an out grouse shooting in general and not addressing any of the issues. It’s a shame as one Labour MSP Colin Smyrh is really good on these issues. Why don’t they use the expertise they have?
“It’s a shame as one Labour MSP Colin Smyrh is really good on these issues. Why don’t they use the expertise they have?”
Jill, this is the response from the Westminster lot, so Colin Smyth is not involved. I very much doubt that the Scottish Labour Party would have allowed such an asinine response.
It looks to me like the work of DEFRA Senior Civil Servants in Whitehall, with the full compliance of an ignorant and possibly uncaring Secretary of State in Steven Reed – who has already singed off on some other absolutely dreadful decisions:-)
What does Steven Reed care about about the environment, anyway? There is no mention of it in his profile… ex-Leader of Lambeth Council… If you examine the Parliamentary e-petitions web site for the locations of signatories for environmental and/or animal welfare petitions over the years you cannot help but notice that Central London in particular, and London as a whole, regularly records the lowest percentage of the population concerned about such issues in the UK..
But receiving donated tickets to see England play at Wembley, or watch Kylie Minogue in Hyde Park… well, that’s another thing!
I totally agree – and replies from our members who have received this disgraceful response have made your point, Ruth, that this could have come from a Tory government.
I think the first priority for us in AIA is to suggest that those who have Labour MPs – and I have one of those – should be expressing serious concerns to them about this dereliction of duty on the part of a government we expected to be more interested in animal welfare, the environment, and cracking down on criminal behaviour.
It seems as though none of them, barring the Greens, care.
A lot of people happily voted for labour, as a vote for change, and lo! a status quo. Wow. I’m well insulted by this response.
I only voted for labour as they said they would end the Badger cull, ban Fox hunting and I thought it might be worth while asking if they’d ban Grouse shooting. I now feel disgracefully and whole heartedly let down and absolutely sickened by them, it’s beyond an absolute disgrace that they went back on their word with regards to the Badger cull it’s sick their sick and a ban on Fox hunting remains to be seen. I should have voted for the Greens.
This response looks like it came straight out of the file inherited from the last Government . To suggest there might be illegal persecution is laughable and they haven’t even taken the opportunity to reinforce rules against burning deep peat. And beyond irony in the same week apparently beavers and the natural history GCSE have been blocked by no 10 because they are Tory legacy! There is little evidence that the new government has the faintest idea what it is about – it’s well beyond me, anyway.
Vote Labour – get more Tory. After reading endless slagging of the SNP Scottish Government in the comments of this blog over many years, I look forward to many years of slagging of Labour’s English/Westminster Government.
One of the ‘responsees’ on Mark’s blog was thinking along the same lines as myself. It sounds as though the Defra reply was handed to one of the civil servants to complete, who had no doubt written the previous one. By tweaking a few phrases here and there they’ve come up with the same non-sensical result! We can only hope it goes to a debate again and wipe the floor with them!
What did you expect ?
I am not surprised at all by the Government”s response when we have minister Angela Rayner saying recently that “newts are not going to stop houses being built”. They are just not interested!
Me neither doesn’t matter who is in they do not care about anything but themselves endorsing cruelty to wildlife for their financial gains they are so far up each other’s arses they would need surgical removal.
thats one promise now do what you have promised all along and the reason you got my vote BAN FOX HUNTING FULL STOP
The response was waiting for me in my junk mail,quite apt I think.
“Where wild birds of prey or any non-target species of wildlife are killed illegally the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime.”
This would be fine if there was a track record of successful prosecutions and vigorous investigations of wildlife crime but, as we all know, the slaughter of birds of prey continues with impunity year after year. It is perhaps no surprise that the government has declined to ban DGS but at the very least we need an acknowledgement not only that there is a link between grouse shooting and wildlife crime but most importantly that the approach to this taken by the authorities hitherto has been utterly ineffective in stamping it out and that a new and vastly beefed up approach is needed. Sadly there is no hint of any change of attitude or approach from the previous government.
Very disappointing…