Reform UK has incorporated three NGO‑backed priorities into its newly published Welsh Manifesto following a recent meeting with NGO representatives. These include commitments to protect lawful gamebird release, review restrictive general licences, and ensure rural-proofed, holistic environmental regulation.
Reform UK has incorporated three NGO‑backed priorities into its newly published Welsh Manifesto following a recent meeting with NGO representatives. These include commitments to protect lawful gamebird release, review restrictive general licences, and ensure rural-proofed, holistic environmental regulation.
Further to the recent meeting between Reform UK’s Welsh representative, David Jones, the NGO National Chairman, David Pooler, and the NGO Director of Environment, Policy and Politics, Tim Weston, we are pleased to confirm that three key requests put forward on behalf of NGO members have been incorporated into Reform UK’s Welsh Manifesto, published today. These are:
Agriculture and the Countryside Point 13 (two NGO requests):
NO BAN ON THE RELEASE OF GAME BIRDS AND A REVIEW OF ALL GENERAL LICENCE RESTRICTIONS: Reform will not ban the release of game birds or create a licensing regime for the activity to continue. There is already sufficient legislation and governance in place to stop any bad practice or illegal activity. We will protect lawful game bird release. General licences, which are rightly there to help protect flora and fauna in Wales, are excessively restrictive compared to other parts of the UK. Certain species such as the curlew are iconic to Wales but in danger of declining beyond saving because tools such as the general licence have been restricted so much that predator control is no longer permitted. We will review all general license restrictions.
Agriculture and the Countryside Point 14:
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: We have seen repeated unintended consequences of over-legislating or banning certain activities without considering knock-on effects. Reform will take a holistic approach to environmental regulation. We will also ensure that all the needs of people in rural Wales are considered when developing wildlife and conservation regulation. Under Reform, the ‘rural proofing’ of government programmes will be best practice for policymakers.
The NGO welcomes dialogue with all political parties with a view to protecting the countryside in Wales. As a non‑partisan organisation, we do not align with any single party; our sole priority is safeguarding the Welsh countryside, its wildlife, and the rural jobs that depend on it.
You can read Reform UK's Welsh Manifesto in full
here.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation: The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) represents the gamekeepers of England and Wales. The NGO defends and promotes gamekeeping and gamekeepers and works to ensure high standards throughout the profession. The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation was founded in 1997 by a group of gamekeepers who felt that keepering was threatened by public misunderstanding and poor representation. Today, there are 13,000 members of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation. www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk
