Buzzards in danger from Tory toffs!

The recovery of the common buzzard in the last twenty years, is regarded by some wildlife enthusiasts as one of the great wildlife success stories of recent times. The bird - which has been described by some, as the 'poor man's eagle' - was almost persecuted to extinction in lowland England by Victorian gamekeepers and was mainly to be found, in the West Country, Wales and the Lake District.

Though the buzzzard is now the county's most common bird of prey, its future looks very bleak if this ghastly Con-Dem government - 'who know the price of everything and the value of nothing' - gets its own way. As from this Friday, Britain's multi-millionaire minister for wildlife, Richard Benyon, a landowner with a 20,000 acre estate in Berkshire who list his interests in 'Who's Who' as 'conservation and shooting', is sending men into the countryside to destroy the nests of wild buzzards by blasting them with shotguns, in order to protect the interests of pheasants which he himself likes to shoot occasionally.

The cull is likely to be opposed by wildlife enthusiasts and to be seen as yet again, as another political gaffe by a government of toffs and millionaires who are seen has being out of touch with the feelings and opinions of most people. Critics say that under Benyon's tenure, the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)has been favouring shooting interests over conservation. But what would you expect from a Tory landowner who likes shooting the birds!