Red Squirrels

My Lords, I live in south Lakeland, an area of mixed woodland and farmland. It is quintessential squirrel country. Throughout the war, in the 50s and into the 60s we had only red squirrels and then the greys began to arrive. We have not seen a red squirrel for at least the past 12 months. So I warmly welcome the initiative of the noble Earl, Lord Peel, in drawing our attention to the relentless invasion of the grey squirrel. He speaks with great authority and experience. Today I am for once in complete agreement with him. I am also full of admiration for the wide range of knowledge—sadly all on the opposition Benches—that has been shown today. What is to be done? We have had many suggestions today. I used to subscribe to Red Alert. I say ““used to”” because for one reason or another I seem to have lost touch with it. I am all in favour of Red Alert but it has recently felt it necessary to concentrate its efforts on red squirrel refuges. It does not have a refuge in my part of Lakeland although I think that they are in north Lakeland. The noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, may well have them in his part of the world. One cannot blame Red Alert. I am sure that it is right to go for refuges because it is, as it were, trying to protect a redoubt. So we are out on our own. We kill grey squirrels when we can but I fear that we are fighting a losing battle. Indeed, we may have already lost it. A good local friend of mine, with whom I was recently talking about squirrels in preparation for the debate, drew my attention to the admirable organisation, the European Squirrel Initiative, to which the noble Earl referred. I rather gather that it has drawn attention to the situation in Italy and the need for a European directive on the basis that we in Whitehall do not really think that there is a problem, and that if there is a directive perhaps we will have to take notice. That is rather an ingenious way of tackling the matter. But of course, as the noble Earl said, there is a problem in Europe. It is not the case, as I think the Government said the other day, that there are no grey squirrels in Europe. There are three colonies, if that is the right word, in Italy. At least one of them is in the process of crossing the Alps. I believe that the French are already getting rather worried that they might make it to France. If they get to Germany, there will be a complete invasion taking place. Brussels now must take an interest, whether through a directive or through the European Parliament I do not know; perhaps both. I regret to say that I have not the faintest idea whether we in the UK have any official interest or policy on red squirrels. I can hardly believe that Whitehall is terribly excited about the subject, but I hope that my assumption is wrong and the Minister will be able to contradict me. I used to be on the board of the Natural Environment Research Council, and I do not recall that the invasion of the greys was ever on our horizons. There are, I suppose, interesting philosophical issues—““Should we not let nature take its course?””, and the survival of the fittest, and all that sort of thing. To argue that nature is merely taking its course is not really the right argument, when it is what we have done that is taking its course. We have allowed grey squirrels to be established in this island. I am not really interested in those quasi-philosophical questions. I confess to being a softie and a romantic. I would like to see the red squirrel survive. I do not see this Government, or any alternative government, having much interest in the subject. In a more than modest way, a fight to protect the red squirrel should surely be part of successive governments’ biodiversity activities. I look forward to the Minister’s reply. I have no idea whether the scientific community can help us on this. Is it a matter of science research? One is aware of having feeding boxes of the right size, which only red squirrels can use, and so forth. Surely this is not a question of a need for rocket science. One suspects that this is not a serious science policy issue as much as a PR issue. The need for a campaigning approach of strategically sited refuge areas may be the basis for the fight back or for holding the fort. I am delighted to hear that a real success is happening in the isle of Anglesey. An island is a pretty useful place for creating a moat. It is good news to hear that Anglesey has decided to be grey-squirrel free. I question whether we are holding our own in the Lake District. In South Lakeland we have certainly lost the battle. Three or four noble Lords who have spoken this morning, starting with the noble Earl, have referred to Beatrix Potter and Squirrel Nutkin. He was a red squirrel, and that was at Derwentwater. Beatrix Potter was an intrepid fighter and she was a splendid person. I must be the only noble Lord who knew her. I was taken to have tea with her in about 1941, just before she died. Sadly, I have no real recollection of her, except that she seemed to me to be a bit like Mrs Tiggywinkle. Unfortunately, I was at an age when Biggles was much more interesting to me than Peter Rabbit or Squirrel Nutkin. The point about Beatrix Potter is that she was a very tough businesswoman and she was a doughty fighter who did not suffer fools gladly—that is to say, people she disagreed with. She would have been hugely effective in fighting for us for red squirrels.