Guardian:Richard Benyon's 'war on ragwort' sparks fierce spat with ecologists

[Neil Jones]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/19/richard-benyon-ragwort


  Richard Benyon's 'war on ragwort' sparks fierce spat with ecologists

Minister for the natural environment forced to delete 'aggressive' 
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      <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/19/richard-benyon-ragwort#start-of-comments>


    * John Vidal <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnvidal>,
      environment editor
    * guardian.co.uk <http://www.guardian.co.uk/>, Monday 19 September
      2011 12.46 BST
    * Article history
      <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/19/richard-benyon-ragwort#history-link-box>


      When the minister for the natural environment and fisheries,
      Richard Benyon
      <http://richardbenyon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=108&Itemid=27>,
      last week posted a picture on Facebook of himself bravely pulling
      up a ragwort plant
      <http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=142175372464147&set=pu.142171595797858&type=1&theater>
      while being watched by a quizzical cow, he probably thought the
      image of a true countryman being tough on weeds would go down well
      with the voters.

      After all, the pretty yellow plant that seems to spring up
      overnight in fields and hedgerows, is classed as one of Britain's
      most injurious, with a reputation for killing horses and grazing
      animals who eat it. It has its own act of parliament
      <http://www.ragwortfacts.com/ragwort-control-act.html> and code
      <http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb9840-cop-ragwort.pdf>,
      and costs local councils and government agencies millions of
      pounds a year to spray it with herbicides.

      "I hate ragwort. It may not be the issue of the moment but I am on
      the warpath for those who let this vile weed spread. Chief target
      at the moment is the Highways Agency," wrote a confident Benyon on
      the wall of his Facebook page
      <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richard-Benyon-MP-for-Newbury/142171595797858>.

      But the cheers did not ring out. Instead, the minister with
      responsibility for biodiversity
      <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/biodiversity> found himself
      in a fierce spat with some of Britain's leading ecologists. Within
      hours of the post about the "vile weed", more than 30 people had
      complained that he was ecologically illiterate, plain wrong or
      perpetuating myths put out about the plant by herbicide companies.

      "Minister of the natural environment!!!! You don't even seem to
      know Defra's [the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural
      Affairs] guidance - get your facts straight - livestock are
      generally only harmed if they eat the dried plants
      <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/plants> in hay!", wrote Dusty
      Gedge <http://www.dustygedge.com/>, a leading urban ecologist and
      designer of green roofs. They attacked his science: "There is very
      very clear science on meta-population dynamics that shows that
      habitat loss with in a patchwork of habitats has a very severe
      effect. There is a chapter on ragwort in one of the standard
      textbooks," wrote another.

      And they attacked his ecological knowledge: "At least 30 insect
      and 14 fungi species are entirely reliant on ragwort, and about a
      third of the insects are scarce or rare. Ragwort is also a
      critically important nectar source for hundreds of species of
      butterflies, bees, moths, flies and other invertebrates, helping
      to maintain what remains of their much declined populations in the
      UK countryside," said Matt Shardlow, director of invertebrate
      society group Buglife <http://www.buglife.org.uk/>.

      But Newbury MP Benyon, whose family's estates earn around £200,000
      a year in EU farm subsidies
      <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1360998/Wealthy-minister-earns-2m-EU-farm-subsidies-department-tried-cover-up.html>,
      was not backing down. Like his colleague Tory MP Nicholas Soames,
      who in 2009 called
      <http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm091029/debtext/91029-0001.htm>
      the "scourge" of ragwort a national "shame", Benyon struck back,
      saying his critics were being "unnecessarily aggressive", and that
      he wasn't advocating ethnic cleansing of ragwort but that he
      wanted to deal with "a severe infestation of a poisonous plant".

      That only infuriated people more. "There is a campaign against
      ragwort. We are told that it kills hundreds or thousands of
      animals a year. We are told it is dangerous to touch it or it can
      give you cancer if you do. We are told it is a danger to dogs.
      None of this is true", said one. "Actually there is not a severe
      infestation of ragwort at the moment. There is a great deal of
      increase in the hysteria but the last government countryside
      survey actually shows a decrease. Ask your civil servants to check
      it for you."

      It was all too much for Benyon, who retired from the debate and,
      shortly afterwards, deleted the thread on his Facebook wall.

      The Highways Agency said it was baffled as to why Benyon had
      picked on them. "We take ragwort seriously. Where we judge it a
      risk we control it. This comes out of the blue," said a spokesman.

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