Downing Street is facing calls to explain why it has appointed a wealthy, unelected shooting enthusiast as its animal welfare minister after it emerged he has backed the culling of seals and wild birds.
Robbie Douglas-Miller, who was last week given a peerage to allow him to become minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), owns a grouse moor in Scotland and has argued for the relaxation of rules on shooting wild birds that prey on salmon.
He is also on the board of a fishery which applied to obtain a licence to kill seals in 2021; last year he gained a licence to kill wild cormorants and sawbill ducks.
In 2016, Douglas-Miller complained about the impact of seals and birds on salmon stock. The peer said in a letter to supporters of the Atlantic Salmon Trust, which he chaired: “Difficulties do remain with a lack of understanding of the impact of predation by increasing numbers of fish-eating birds and a burgeoning seal population – all enjoying protection by law.”
Experts disagree that shooting seals protects salmon. Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK, said overfishing, salmon farming and poor water quality are drivers of salmon decline, not seals which evolved alongside salmon: “It is these issues we should be focused on, not shooting our seals. The UK can be proud of the fact that it is home to internationally important populations of seals. But they need our protection: since they are slow to reproduce and vulnerable to the climate crisis and disease, any increase in adult mortality can quickly affect a population, destroying a keystone species of our rich marine wildlife.”
Douglas-Miller was made a baron on Friday in a surprise appointment as an environment minister and given the portfolio responsibility for animal welfare this week.
In September, he signed a letter with fellow grouse moor owners lobbying the Scottish government to water down new laws that bring in licences for grouse-shooting in an effort to address persecution of birds of prey.
Scotland is a stronghold for the grey seal and thousands of tourists travel to see them and their fuzzy, white young. With big eyes and long whiskers, they are one of the rarest species of seal and about 50% of the world’s population lives in British and Irish waters. Dr Ruth Tingay, a bird expert who runs the Raptor Persecution blog, said: “This appointment is both surprising and concerning in equal measures. I’m also deeply suspicious of the timing of it.
“We’ve already got one wealthy, unelected grouse moor-owning Defra minister in Lord Benyon, why do we need another one and why has this appointment been made now when the government is hurtling towards certain defeat in an imminent general election?”
Douglas-Miller owns over 4,000 acres in Scotland and is relatively unknown in the environment sector.
His family once ran the famous Jenners department store known as the Harrods of the North, which was frequented by the Queen and held a Royal Warrant.
The minister is also connected with King Charles. The monarch was a patron of the Atlantic Salmon Trust and Alister Jack, the Scotland secretary, sat on the board.
There now appears to be a trend of unelected, grousemoor owning Lords being given positions at Defra. Lord Benyon has for years been a Defra minister. He owns vast swathes of land and last year was subject to protests for restricting parts of his estate from ramblers. Douglas-Miller has also been criticised by ramblers for obstructing access to his estate.
Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “This appears to be a wholly inappropriate appointment, which is something we’ve come to expect from Rishi Sunak. An unelected wealthy landowner who has restricted public access to nature, and supported shooting at protected birds, is not someone I’d trust to prioritise animal protection, improve nature access and urgently restore our natural environment.
“There are many questions to be answered. What will his responsibilities within the department be, and why do we still not know a whole four days after his appointment? Did the government consider his potential conflicts of interest before giving him the job? And why, when Rishi Sunak has 349 other MPs to choose for the job, does he opt for an unelected landowner?”
Daisy Cooper MP, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader, said: “What an embarrassing mess. How is a gun going to save fish from drowning in sewage?
“This Conservative government cannot be trusted to keep animals safe. They have failed spectacularly on the environment and the public are fed up of it.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “The minister is fully committed to the government’s world-leading reforms on animal welfare, conservation and nature recovery.”
