The big event of today is clearly whether Rushden and Diamonds will beat local rivals Kettering at their place this afternoon, but once I have got over the euphoria or despondency of that, then tonight's Panorama looks interesting.
RSPB staff have been interviewed for the programme but we don't really know exactly what the angle will be so I'll be interested to see.
Mark, Thank you for advance notice of this programme. A lot to think about and in theory should get viewers signing the Letter for the Future in their droves if only we could get them to connect the two. I was extremely interested to hear Richard Benyon refer to the Farmland Bird Index despite it already having been dispensed with by his Government. If this doesn't help retain agro-environment funding then I am not sure what will.
Volunteered today on the RSPB stall at Westonbirt Festival of the Trees. Admittedly a 'green' event but was impressed by the fact that everyone I spoke to was willing to support the RSPB approach to this letter and its contents.
Interesting program albeit a little disjointed but when you've only got half an hour what do you expect? The mere fact that Panorama has covered such a subject as this speaks volumes in itself. Who'd have thought this 20 or 30 years ago?
Good to see Hope Farm as being held up as an example as to what can be done, and I know that there are farmers out there who are doing similar things. If this program has made the wider public think more seriously about the issue then job done. Will it make any difference? I think the idea of ascribing economic and financial consequences is right but what a shame that it may take the fact that peoples pockets may be hit before anything significant is done, but then I guess that's what most people (including me, if I'm honest) priorities are...
I thought this was quite a well done programme. I was very pleased to see the bottom trawling/scallop dredging issue given prominent attention (although I though they could perhaps have spent a bit longer showing the pictures of dredged/recovering seabed, to emphasise the destruction caused by this fishing method. The ironic thing here is that, although there seems to be a lot of resistance from the fishing industry to the designation of no-take zones, these should actually increase both fish catches and biodiversity.