RSPB Campaign Inciting Assaults Against Gamekeepers: Our Letter to RSPB CEO

The RSPB’s continued demonisation of gamekeepers has led to an exchange of letters between the charity’s CEO and the Moorland Association.

Since Beccy Speight took over, the charity has told the BBC’s Today Programme that gamekeepers are a “coordinated gang of armed criminals roaming the uplands”. The RSPB’s regular “Birdcrime Reports” repeatedly accuse gamekeepers of systematically killing birds of prey. The Moorland Association has responded that the RSPB’s figures are completely unverified and do not fit with official data.

The RSPB’s unceasing attacks are leading to physical attacks on gamekeepers and bullying of their children. In a recent letter sent to the Moorland Association, Ms Speight refused to accept that the charity has crossed the line into hate speech. The response from the Moorland Association includes a series of interviews with gamekeepers explaining the impact of the charity’s rhetoric.

You can read the Moorland Association's letter below or download it here.

Dear Ms Speight,

RSPB campaign inciting assaults against gamekeepers

I am writing on behalf of the Chairman of the Moorland Association regarding your complaint to him about our comments to BBC News. They were in response to your press release criticising our sector. Our focus was on i) the reliability of your statements and ii) the real-world impact of your repeated verbal attacks on gamekeepers and their families.

Reliability first. There has long been scepticism about RSPB pronouncements with headlines including “RSPB ‘twisted data’ in campaign against grouse shooting”, “RSPB sidestepped law” and “RSPB ‘sits on crimes for publicity’”.[1] Scientists, judges and the police have all expressed concern.

When the BBC asked us for our views on your press release, we pointed out that your data on bird crime is “unverified”.[2]

I note that you did not respond to this in your letter. Would journalists be right to assume that there are no independent checks on the data in your so-called ‘Birdcrime Reports’? If these are merely a ragbag of missing bird reports from your activists then it begs the question about how many “crimes” are taking place.

Natural England points out that birds die for many reasons including “predation, starvation, and disease”.[3] For hen harriers, goshawks are a major predator and juvenile mortality is 40%. If a dead bird had a satellite tag, it would only continue to work if it was facing sunlight. The media has also reported that some birds you claimed were illegally killed turned out to be alive.[4]

Where there is foul play, official data suggests that your relentless desire to pin the blame on gamekeepers is wide of the mark. The BBC reported that “of only four people convicted for bird crime last year three were falconers and one was an egg collector and none were gamekeepers.”[5] Furthermore, only 3% of bird crime prosecutions involve gamekeepers.[6]

Aware of that, you suggest an alternative ‘proof point’ for your hypothesis that gamekeepers should be blamed when birds go missing. Your press release says it typically happens “on or near” grouse moors. The enormous flaw with this argument is that that is where the birds are. Repeated scientific studies have shown vast numbers of red-listed birds live on the million acres our members manage. The research says it is because our keepers are so good at protecting them from predators such as foxes and stoats.[7] 

Are there any scientific studies showing how many birds you have on your 220 reserves? Perhaps you could also let journalists know why you stopped publishing your own bird counts 14 years ago? You are Europe’s biggest conservation charity with an income of £170 million secured from donors and taxpayers.[8] What are they getting in return?

And in this might journalists infer a possible motivation for the relentless animus your charity has towards our privately run nature reserves?

For animus it is. In accusing gamekeepers of “illegal killing”, your latest press release used the word “crime” seven times and “suspicion” five. Since you took over, the RSPB has committed atrocious slander against all gamekeepers.[9]

Given your access to social and traditional media, your repeated smearing of gamekeepers through dozens of press releases has consequences.

A study by Professor Simon Denny found that there is a physical attack on a gamekeeper on average every 12 days.[10] We also receive regular reports of the children of gamekeepers being bullied at school because of their parent’s profession.

Our industry is so concerned about the impact of the RSPB’s campaign of vilification that we recently produced this compilation of interviews with gamekeepers.

Speech that causes this degree of hatred is hate speech.

You suggested a meeting. If you agree to watch the video and to have gamekeepers attend, we would be willing to meet.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Gilruth

Chief Executive

Moorland Association

Sources

[1]   RSPB reliability: RSPB “twisted data”: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/rspb-twisted-data-in-campaign-against-grouse-shooting-qwhl6wb83 RSPB “sidestepped law”: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/rspb-sidestepped-law-says-judge-as-rare-bird-killing-case-collapses-zkmw2p0dv RSPB “sits on crimes”: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/rspb-sits-on-crimes-for-publicity-zf2l6nf79

[2]   BBC coverage of RSPB press release mentions “unverified” data concerns: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vdgkll0ppo

[3]   Natural England on causes of bird mortality: https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/30/losses-of-tagged-hen-harriers-higher-than-normal/

[4]   RSPB embarrassed after rare bird found alive: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/04/rspb-embarrassed-rare-bird-suggested-had-illegally-dispatched/

[5]   Official data shows no gamekeepers among those convicted of bird crime: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6g1dye740o

[6] Prosecution data

[7]   Latest scientific research on grouse moor productivity: https://www.moorlandassociation.org/post/curlew-four-times-as-likely-to-fledge-chicks-successfully-on-a-grouse-moor and https://www.gwct.org.uk/wildlife/research/birds/raptors/hen-harrier/how-does-grouse-moor-management-affect-the-abundance-and-breeding-success-of-red-grouse-and-hen-harriers/

[8]   RSPB income £170m includes £16m from government https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/207076

[9]   For instance, the RSPB’s Mark Thomas, told the BBC Today Programme that gamekeepers were a “coordinated gang of armed criminals roaming the uplands”: https://www.c4pmc.co.uk/post/actions-speak-louder-than-words-why-rspb-s-beccy-speight-s-words-ring-hollow

[10] Professor Simon Denny’s report: See page 9: https://f20ead8a-2979-4fd6-9990-9784b9a21c0c.usrfiles.com/ugd/f20ead_0fba2e82bc4e45dca6fa9199658fcced.pdf#page=[3]