Government petition

[TheManStan]

Dear All,

As a scientist performing research at Oxford University and having read the situation where the government has denied your requests for additional funding, I have put together an ePetition on 10 Downing Street.

I can understand your frustration at the obstinacy of the farming ministers saying there is no money to be had.

I have passed this on to the Oxford Research community via one of the social networking sites. I would encourage you all to do the same to maximise the publicity.

Signees must be UK resident or UK citizens.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BeeResearch/

Kind regards,

Stan

[Shen]

Well done Sir.

I have signed.

Shen

[Patrick Moore]

...and also I. No point complaining about lack of funding on the forums etc if one doesn't complain to HMG by petition!

[New Phyllis]

Hi Stan,

Would you happen to know how many people one signature upon an ePetition represents. I've heard that one letter is usually counted as representing the views of 200 hundred people.

Thanks,

Phyllis

[Heather]

Signed! And is it true that funding has been reduced by the government for 2008?? They couldn't run a bath never mind a country!
Heather

[Wistow]

Signed, not many of us there at the moment, we need to get the message out

W

[sss]

do e-petitions work? have they worked for any other ones at all?

[G4WIL]

YEES!,
Take the RED ARROWS ,they were due for the chop:mad:
The pm petition site was overwhelmed :eek:.

Guess what? YEES it worked and the future of the RED ARROWS is secure :D:D.

John Wilkinson

[G4WIL]

Have you thought of posting the petition web site as your signature on ALL you emails ?

[Patrick Moore]

Good idea.

[jcaturra]

Signed!!!

This is the link to the last one I signed
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13841.asp

It ended with 1754 signatures

And this is the governments response!!!

We received a petition asking:

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Increase funding for research into honey bees at the National Bee Unit and other institutions."

Details of Petition:

"The honey bee is an often overlooked but absolutely vital part of the environment and agriculture. Bees are said to be worth about a billion pounds to agriculture and horticulture but their role in general pollination and the environment is beyond measure. Recent reports from the USA and UK about massive losses in bee colonies indicate that urgent research needs to be done to understand and counter this trend along with combating the rise in antibiotic resistant varroa mites and other threats. However research funding to the National Bee Unit and other institutions by DEFRA has been cut hugely in recent years with the loss of many jobs and the consequent dispersal of knowledge. This petition urges the Government to put significant extra money into the relevant organisations that study bees and work with beekeepers both commercial and amateur to ensure that this essential creature is protected and encouraged."


Read the Government's response Honey bees are important pollinators of crops and wild flowers and make an important contribution to sustainable agriculture and the environment. The Government recognises the importance of a strong bee health programme in England to protect these benefits and takes very seriously any biosecurity threat to the sustainability of the apiculture sector.

TheDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has not reduced its expenditure with the National Bee Unit (NBU), and funding for this year remains at the same level as in recent years. In the 2007/8 financial year, Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government are providing the NBU with funding of £1,518,000. There is an ongoing review of expenditure on all Defra programmes, including bee health, and it is not possible to give long-term commitments on the continuation of funding into the distant future for any particular programme. In addition, work is underway to develop a bee health strategy. This is being discussed with all sectors of the industry and should help establish priorities and clarify the roles and responsibilities of government and the industry. The strategy will also determine whether the current approach to disease control is the most effective use of resources or whether alternative approaches might yield better results in terms of disease protection, including any response to potential new threats. That review will include consideration of resource implications and the role that industry has to play in working in partnership with government. In the event of any resultant proposals to change the provision of the NBU's inspection services, there will be further consultation.

In addition, the budget for Bee Health Research and Development in 2007/08 is £192,000, which is comparable to previous years. The R&D programme underpins bee health policy and covers work on all exotic and statutory pests and diseases of bees. This year the programme is focusing on the development of a system for the monitoring and surveillance of Small Hive Beetle (Aethina tumida (Murray)) and assessing the effectiveness of the shook swarm technique for the control of European Foul Brood. A 3-year PhD studentship studying bee viruses will also start this year. Defra is collaborating with other funders to optimise the outcome of the research programme. The inaugural meeting of the Research Funders Forum will take place early in November.

Defra is aware of the press reports about the serious situation in the USA in respect of cases of abnormally high levels of colony loss described as Colony Collapse Disorder. However, despite continuing press speculation, we do not have evidence to suggest that there is something similar happening in the UK. Scientists and inspectors at the NBU are monitoring the situation and are in contact with experts in the USA and in Europe to learn about developments.

It is not unusual for some colonies to be found dead or absent at the end of winter. If beekeepers report such cases in England and Wales to the NBU they are routinely investigated. The very limited number of cases of high losses for which there is no ready explanation is being investigated in depth by the NBU and bee inspectors. The figures from inspections strongly indicate that colony losses in 2007 will not be significantly higher than the 11.1% recorded in 2006, reflecting the upward trend since 2001. The NBU's research and apiary assessments suggest these losses are primarily due to Varroa and inappropriate control. Uncontrolled mite populations can lead to an increase in the associated secondary pathogens like viruses or Nosema.

[Chris]

e-Petitions. Yawn, yawn, yawn.

[New Phyllis]

Chris: Yawn, yawn, yawn.

[Shen]

Great post Chris.

What bothers me is the figure. £192,000? That is what I call pathetic. They waste more than that on their infernal expenses.

Our problem is how to apply pressure.

Shen

[Patrick Moore]

"yawn yawn" ...
may be , but we should ALL pressure HMG , and not just leave BBKA to do it. If you don't "believe" in e-petitions, then write to your MP and to the Minister.

[colin]

One would hope they take notice of petitions how else does the government get to know about beekeepers concerns apart from writing to your local MP

[Chris]

Signed!!!

This is the link to the last one I signed

Quick. Someone start a third one.

[Chris]

. If you don't "believe" in e-petitions, then write to your MP and to the Minister.

Oh, I already have.

In France beekeepers hold protests. They let loose a couple of skeps in the street, all put their veils on, and get loads of airtime on national TV.

But the British are like sheep. Only signing-up to silly e-petitions started by some kid in his bedroom.

[Shen]

And a passer by dies of being stung. What a great and positive message that would send out. Can you imagine the field day the press would have with that?

We would probably end up having to have a licence to own bees.

Lets leave la belle France to their ways and us to our arguably more moderate and sensible ones.

Shen

[ChrisBroad]

I've signed. A petition can only be a positive thing. But I'd like to see us tackling this issue on multiple fronts. In particular BBKA-led fund raising initiatives could achieve a great deal more than any petition. Was the figure £8m? Gift Aid drops the target by £1.6m instantly, which the tax man will chip in. We also have a much stronger hand with DEFRA negotiations if we're also commiting BBKA funds to the pot. We might only need to raise 4 or 5 million.
(I would be interested to know for example how much government cash goes to research into cancer versus the amount contributed by Cancer Research).
We are a charity. We have a cause. What's stopping us doing something ourselves? If we don't, why would government take us seriously anyway?

Regards
Chris

[G4WIL]

Hi Chris,
things are afoot BBKA wise, meanwhile Petitions do work I've already quoted "the red Arrows one being successful"
I agree visible protest must be organised, MPs must be lobbied !! The media brought on board .Heather got us a mention on "planet earth", thats a start.
Local radio/ tv are always looking for different copy.and they have points of contact on their various web pages :).
Just a few Ideas , I'm sure some one out there has PR experience

Where are you ? We need you :confused:

John Wilkinson

[Beeswax]

Anyone willing to climb Big Ben in a full Sherriff??? :rolleyes:

That would make news at 10!

Bob

[Chris]

meanwhile Petitions do work I've already quoted "the red Arrows one being successful"

Eh Wilko, what politician would be daft enough to get rid of the Red Arrows? A real vote winner, that.

I think us beeks are lucky to have the Inspection service in the UK as it is at the moment. However, I believe the Government weren't thinking of doing away with disease control systems altogether. I think some scheme of local disease control officers was proposed.

I wonder how they do it in other countries? I bet them Frenchies have a good service, like they do an NHS and pretty much everything else. But they pay higher rates of tax, whereas us 'Ross-beefs' pay lower taxes more akin to those paid in North America.

[TheManStan]

Would the BBKA be of a mind to place a link to the petition on the front of the website?

Given the One Show has given a publicity boost and has placed a link directly to your website, we may see a significant increase in the number of signees.

We have over 1500 signature in one month, which compares very well to the previously mentioned petition.

Regards,

Stan

[Bcrazy]

Done and dusted

Regards

[TheManStan]

Has kindly linked the ePetition on their news item on Colony Collapse disorder.

Should get a littel boost from that.

Stan

[TheManStan]

We'll just have to wait to see what No.10 says...