The UK’s increasing deer population is as much an opportunity as a challenge. That is the message from stalkers and rural residents. (Read more on the growing impact of the deer population.) The inexorable rise in deer numbers has been observed by country people for some years, and now a drive to increase woodland cover has brought the issue to public and political attention. Oxfordshire farmer James Whittle told Shooting Times: “Fallow deer have become an ever-increasing problem for us; we lose significant amounts of maize and other crops to trampling and grazing. Over the time I have been here, the population has risen significantly.” Two million deer Recently published figures suggest that there are now more deer in the UK than there were when William the Conqueror invaded in 1066. It’s estimated that more than two million deer now live in the UK, and the population is continuing to rise rapidly. While much of the political focus has been on open hill deer in Scotland, it is
A friend of mine had difficulty when she applied for a store card, because she didn’t exist. Or at least, that’s what the credit rating agency seemed to think. She’s solvent and has no outstanding debts. And that, it turns out, is the nub of the problem. Because she didn’t already have a credit card and had not had an overdraft, mortgage or bank loan in recent years, she didn’t have a credit rating. It was all sorted in the end, but it makes you wonder how the authorities treat such matters. And this may have implications for law-abiding gun owners who choose to keep a low profile. Media presence I remember the head of a police firearms licensing unit telling me, six or seven years ago, that the first thing they did when assessing a certificate applicant was to take a quick look at their social media presence. She said that it didn’t take them much time. If something appeared that rang alarm bells, then they would dig deeper. I am surprised that anybody thinks the police wo