Are we now at war with the newts?

Here we go again.

A few years ago I read Karel Čapek’s At War with the Newts. I can’t remember much of this absurdist Czech novel, and to be honest I struggled with it. It was not exactly grounded in ecology which all great novels must be. Kidding.

However, when the political news-cycle pedals round to how difficult politicians find it to build houses or appease the masses, I think of this book.

Why? Last week the current government blamed newts and bats for holding up major infrastructure development, economic growth, and therefore stopping cash entering the people’s pocket.

Why are newts (great crested, in this case) and bats getting stick? It’s because they have ‘strict’ protections (which are apparently very poorly applied, by the way) that can defer or even stop developments. Just ask our previous but three Great Leader.

It’s funny because he also went there.

Bats have strict protections because some species have declined by 99% since 1945. Newts and bats have no meaningful place in our lives unless you hold on to fond childhood memories or you’re an ecologist. This makes them fodder for politicians looking to distract.

I don’t see anyone decrying owls for their role in the cost of living crisis (yet).

And you definitely don’t see people going after that lovely snoring dormouse, another licenced species.

The protections we have for what little wildlife we have left in the UK are so weak, and so pitifully enforced, that it just beggars belief politicians will go after wildlife in this way.

It’s somewhat surprising the current government has gone there at all, let alone so early in their tenure. But who else has singled-out species for holding back economic development? You guessed it – the Communists.

In 1958 Chinese Communist Leader Chairman Mao tried to eradicate tree sparrows to protect grain by creating a populist uprising against this poor little bird.

What the war on ‘pests’ actually did was to  cause large-scale famine among the very people who had undertaken the orders to eradicate tree sparrows – the peasantry. As many as 55 million people died. Little did that Great Leader know the precious grain was feeding one of nature’s great pest-controllers – the tree sparrow.

Thanks for reading.