Labour’s pledge to halt the badger cull by 2029 is possible, but only with a major increase in testing and vaccination, a new government-commissioned report has warned.
The review, led by Sir Charles Godfray, said current funding and methods give ministers only a “small chance” of eradicating bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in England by the 2038 target. More than 210,000 badgers have been killed since culling began in 2013, with the disease costing taxpayers and farmers around £150m a year.
Godfray confirmed that badgers do transmit bTB but stressed this did not mean culling was the only solution. Instead, he called for a shift to non-lethal measures, including scaling up badger vaccination and introducing hi-tech cattle testing and microchipping to trace movements.
“We saw during Covid-19 how things can move so much faster when there is real focus on the disease. We want to see the same here,” he said.
The report highlighted that the standard skin test often misses infections, while blood tests and cattle vaccination could offer more accurate control. Prof James Wood of Cambridge University said vaccinating both cattle and badgers could significantly reduce transmission.
Farming minister Daniel Zeichner said he welcomed the findings and confirmed plans to expand vaccination programmes and publish a new eradication strategy in 2025, but stopped short of promising the cull would end this parliament.
