Protesters gather at Westminster

“In the 1950s we had TB and in those days the ministry would come in and gas the badgers in the sets and the job was dealt with. We didn't have TB then for 40 years. But then when badgers were protected, TB came back and it is as simple as that.”
Theo Cracknell, farms pedigree cattle in Newent, Herefordshire

“When you get a reactor your heart just sinks. The last test I had the first batch of 30 animals had 3 reactors and it is indescribable how bad that feels.

“You have to cull the badgers that are sick.”
Jimmy Gribble, has a beef and arable farm in Lewes, East Sussex

“I have had huge loss in milk yields and income. On a personal side I have been affected very bad. Since December I have lost 102 cattle.

“It has affected the whole family and my son is devastated.”
Brian Warrington, farms in Staffordshire

“TB is having a huge effect on farming families. They were desperately hoping that the secretary of state would send them a lifeline yesterday but they are now in despair.

“The NFU will now fight the government all of the way. We need to convince MPs to change the decision and we will challenge the announcement through the courts.

“We will use every resource at our disposal to stop this industry from being destroyed.”
Meurig Raymond, NFU deputy president

“We have just been in restriction for six months. It is extremely difficult to farm now especially because we are organic – replacements are hard to find and the compensation is insufficient by at least a third to cover replacement costs in the first place.

“The government need to take badgers off the restricted list so that farmers and keepers can carry out a reduction in the number of badgers. I am not talking about clearing badgers out countrywide, just where they are heavily populated and causing a problem.”
Bill Dilkes, farms in Derbyshire

“There are an awful lot of herds under restriction in Gloucestershire. There is not only the loss of cash-flow from restrictions but also the appalling lack of proper compensation.

“The evidence is there – Hilary Benn needs to follow the science. The problem is in the wildlife and that has to be addressed.”
Simon Harrison, chairman Gloucestershire NFU

“I have come to support the people that have TB in the south. We don't have it but TB is spreading further north all of the time. Animals are arriving in our area from the south and the more that happens the more chance the disease will get into our wildlife and the disease will spread.

“Hilary Benn has put his hopes in a vaccine but they did that 15 years ago and nothing has happened. This is a creeping pandemic – it affects us all.”
David Shaw, dairy farmer from York

“The compensation that Defra pays farmers does not reflect the value of animals and when those animals are taken the farmers don't make any profit so the government lose two fold – no profit to farmers and no tax going back to the exchequer.

“What we need to do is control all of the animals. Badgers have gone up 77 per cent since the Badger Act, that will now continue and the disease will carry on. The badger population is expanding and cattle population is shrinking and so the Prime Minster cannot talk about food waste.”
David Ashcroft, pedigree South Devon farmer from Hampshire

“The Government has ignored our advice and if something is not done now to clear the disease, businesses will fold and remain shut.

“Hilary Benn needs to remove the moratorium on the licenses. The farmer is the best person to know what animals he has on his farm and how to preserve their health. He knows where the cattle are and where the badger sets are and he can remove the badgers quietly and humanely. It should be up to the farmers to do this properly like in the 1950s.”
Kim Haywood, director National Beef Association

“Farmers want healthy cattle and healthy badgers but we are seeing neither at the moment.

“This is a horrible disease for the badger population and we have a humane role to make sure that these animals don't suffer and if that means putting them down then that is the responsible thing to do. The government are not being responsible to farmers, to cattle or to badgers.

“We want a layered approach. We need tougher cattle biosecurity, we don't want to cull healthy badgers but we do need to take responsibility for ones that are suffering.”
Bill Wiggin MP for Leominster, Defra shadow minister

Watch video footage from the demonstration including Peter Kendall's rallying call on the NFU's website (see the external link below).