Reply from my MP to my letter about the illegal persecution of Hen Harriers

When I wrote to my MP about the illegal persecution of Hen Harriers I didn't expect her to be on the raptors side - she is a Conservative after all. Hence I assumed her views would be in support of the sort of wealthy people/institutions who own (driven) grouse moors and also on the side of the people can afford to indulge in the rarified hobby of red grouse shooting. After all, these sort of people probably vote Conservative! Anyway, not surprisingly, her reply to my letter shows that my MP does not fully understand the issues facing the survival of the Hen Harriers as a breeding species - nor does she seem to care. But, even if I can't expect her to have any particular interest or expertise in wildlife issues (because perhaps maybe be the natural world doesn't float her boat), I do expect her to support the upholding of the law which, judging by her second paragraph, she is not completely prepared to do. It really is shocking and disappointing that she says it may be OK for grouse moor owners and their gamekeepers to break the law by "attempting to scare away birds" and suggesting if this does not work then they could be shot. This in spite of the fact that they are clearly protected by Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In her penultimate paragraph she suggests that egg stealing of Hen Harrier eggs for egg collections may be one reason why Hen Harriers fail to successfully breed in the Peak District. Is she saying that more have tried to breed there and have had their eggs stolen? I think not as this crime would have received publicity in the local, even if the thieves had not been caught. I think she may be confusing last year's disappearance of the the Peregrine nestlings from a nest on The Roaches.

Since the Hen Harrier Day protest on 8th August and since I wrote the letter it was discovered that a pair of Hen Harriers had bred on land near the site of the protest that is owned by the National Trust. Five chicks fledged from their nest and since then three of these have died see 

http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/3-of-the-5-peak-district-hen-harrier-chicks-already-dead/