The story isn't 'crowgate' - it's Britain's heedless killing of birds | Alex Preston

Farmers' fury with Chris Packham over shooting 'pests' hides more pressing issuesLast week, TV naturalist Chris Packham woke to a scene out of Game of Thrones. Hanging in front of the gate of his New Forest home (a gate whose lock had been glued shut), two dead crows swung by their necks in the breeze. Packham cut them down, called a cab (he couldn't get his car out of the drive) and carried on.It was the latest chapter in the strange history of the "general licences", a story that has seen petitions and counter-petitions, threats and smears and says a great deal about the caustic and polarised nature of debate in Britain in 2019. Continue reading...