Ben's Column

<table width="100%" height="100%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr> <td colspan="2" align="left" valign="bottom"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""><tr><td background="../../graphics/180601_pages/pat.jpg"><img src="../../graphics/180601_pages/top.jpg" width="760" height="54" alt="MP for Exeter" usemap="#Map" border="0"></td></tr></table> <map name="Map"> <area shape="rect" coords="38,21,223,37" href="../../biog/" alt="Biography" title="Biography" target="_parent"> </map> </td> </tr> <tr><td align="right" valign="top"> <table summary="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="150" height="341" background="../../graphics/buttons/bottom.jpg" valign="top"> <table summary="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <a href="/" target="_parent"><img src="../../graphics/buttons/home.gif" alt="Home" width="150" height="34" border="0"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="../../exeter_labour/index/" target="_parent"><img name="Image6" border="0" src="../../graphics/buttons/party.gif" width="150" height="23" alt="Exeter Labour Party"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="/" target="_parent"><img name="Image7" border="0" src="../../graphics/buttons/speeches.gif" width="150" height="23" alt="Speeches"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="../../column/" target="_parent"><img border="0" src="../../graphics/buttons/column.gif" width="150" height="24" alt="Ben's Column"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="../../faqs/" target="_parent"><img border="0" src="../../graphics/buttons/faqs.gif" width="150" height="23" alt="FAQs"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="/" target="_parent"><img border="0" src="../../graphics/buttons/local.gif" width="150" height="23" alt="Local Information"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="/" target="_parent"><img border="0" src="../../graphics/buttons/newsletter.gif" width="150" height="23" alt="Newsletter"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="/" target="_parent"><img src="../../graphics/buttons/links.gif" width="150" height="23" border="0" alt="Links"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="../../contact/contact/" target="_parent"><img src="../../graphics/buttons/contact.gif" width="150" height="23" alt="Contact" border="0"></a> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">  <title>Welcome to Ben Bradshaws Website</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#cc0000" vlink="#cc0000" alink="#cc0000" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.legendsofgaming.co.uk/" style="padding: 5px 10px;">Betting Sites Not On Gamstop Uk</a></div> <font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><a name="top"></a></b></font> <table width="90%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="10" summary=""> <tr> <td align="right"><a href="../../column/column/" target="_self"><img alt="Back" src="../../graphics/new_bio/back.gif" width="90" height="22" border="0"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="-3"><font size="4" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#CC0000">Squirrels — 7 July 2004</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="-6"><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When I was a boy growing up the only squirrels I saw were red.<br> <br> This week I visited one of the few remaining red squirrel strong holds in England.<br> The national take over in the last few decades by the non native American grey squirrel has been swift and dramatic.<br> <br> It is the starkest warning our generation has of the potential impact of introducing foreign species of animal or plant to Britain.<br> <br> It always poses difficult questions for policy makers who have to decide how much money and effort to expend trying to control a species on the rampage.<br> <br> The Victorians had no idea what they were doing when they brought the first grey squirrel from America in the 1830s. For about one hundred years the impact on the native red was minimal. But the grey�s population grew, fuelled by further imports, and they began to drive out red squirrels. The grey�s are more adaptable, particularly in deciduous woodland and park. There immunity helps them survive a virus they carry and pass on to reds, which die within days. <br> <br> Forty years ago reds were still dominant in most of England. Today they are confined to the Isle of White, a small part of Norfolk, the Kielder Forest in Northumberland and Cumbria and a few other pockets in northern England. Scotland is still most red, but Ireland has been taken over by greys. <br> <br> Does it matter? Yes, if like me, you prefer reds because they are smaller, prettier and do not dig up your garden. But also because we grew up on squirrel Nutkin and Tufty. Reds are part of our national heritage. <br> <br> Eradicating grey squirrels would be an enormous, costly, and for some, unpopular, exercise. So all we can do for now is protect the reds where they remain. <br> <br> Oral sterilisation of greys may help in future but its development is some way off. Meanwhile time is running out for Nutkin. <br> </font></td> </tr><tr> <td height="-7"><a href="#top"><img alt="Back to Top" src="../../graphics/180601_pages/back_top.gif" width="100" height="27" border="0"></a></td> </tr> </table> </body></td></tr></table>