Natural England chief ‘biased’ against country sports

Campaigner who has been critical of grouse shooting ‘wrong for watchdog role’, says Countryside Alliance

THE next head of the country’s nature watchdog has been accused of being “prejudiced against the countryside” ahead of his appointment.

Tony Juniper, a veteran environ- mental campaigner and former Green Party candidate, is to be made chairman of Natural England by Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary.

But campaigners representing farming, countryside communities and businesses have said he is the wrong person for the job, claiming his views on country sports such as grouse shooting show he does not understand the importance of rural activities.

Mr Juniper has previously criticised grouse shooting, claiming landowners who run the sport enjoy the benefits of huge taxpayer subsidies. In his 2015 book, What Nature Does for Britain, he wrote: “One lever society has for influencing how the land is managed is the vast amount of money paid from our taxes to upland shooting estates… the sport of a privileged few will continue to be subsidised.”

The Countryside Alliance says Mr Juniper’s views make him unsuitable to run Natural England, which helps to protect England’s nature and landscapes and is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment. Tim Bon- ner, the chief executive, said: “Mr Juniper is simply wrong to claim that there is any subsidy for shooting. In response to an anti-shooting petition on parliament’s website in November 2017, Defra responded that ‘neither subsidies nor agri-environment payments are paid to farmers to support shooting activities’.

“His comments also reveal a worrying undercurrent of prejudice and completely misunderstand the importance of grouse shooting to many upland communities. It is extremely worrying that the nominee could have written this just four years ago.”

Mr Bonner added: “Grouse shooting alone supports 1,520 full-time jobs and is worth £97.7million.”

The Alliance hit out ahead of a hearing on Tuesday of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, where Mr Juniper will be questioned about his suitability for the role.

In 2010 Mr Juniper stood as prospective parliamentary candidate for the Green Party on a manifesto that pledged to extend the ban on hunting with dogs to other blood sports.

Defra said he had not declared any significant political activity in the past five years. A spokesman said: “Tony Juniper has a wide range of experience of working with WWF, the Prince of Wales, Friends of the Earth and many others, and the environment, food and rural affairs and environmental audit committees will soon have the opportunity to carry out further scrutiny on his suitability for the post.”

A spokesman for Mr Juniper said he would comment ahead of the hearing.