Brian May's Save Me trust issued a statement about their latest research into bovine TB featuring facts and figures just days after Clarkson's Farm star Jeremy Clarkson confessed his Cotswold's farm had been hit with an outbreak of the condition. The trust have since been in contact with Jeremy despite he and Brian disagreeing about badger culling in the past When contacted by Express.co.uk the charity confirmed that Anne Brummer, who founded the charity with Brian back in 2009, had been in touch with him following his announcement.
Taking to Instagram they posted an image of Brian and Anne together accompanied by their statement. Entitled "The TB Truth Journey: What a Decade Has Taught Us," they explained their work to prove badgers innocence in the spread of bovine TB. "Over the past ten years, we’ve followed the science, the data, and the reality on the ground — and the truth is clear: if badgers play any role in the transmission of bovine TB, it is negligible to zero," they said.
Bovine TB survives, thrives, and spreads within cattle herds — often hidden in plain sight. The outdated government restrictions and testing regimes are tying the hands of those trying to stop it. It’s like being asked to play football for England with your boots laces firmly tied together.
We’ve seen cattle pass the standard skin test over 30 times that are infected with TB. This highlights the massive flaws in current detection methods. In contrast, our approach has shown that you can eliminate TB from herds in just a few years — if you dare to look properly.
"An 'inconclusive' result doesn’t mean an animal is in the clear. On the contrary, it strongly suggests that the animal is infected and is a carrier.
"Bovine TB is a hidden threat. It doesn’t always reveal itself and only becomes detectable at specific stages in the pathogens life and only with certain tests. The situation is like a pantomime: while everyone’s shouting at the badgers, someone should be yelling, 'It’s behind you — in the cattle!'" the statement continued.
"The government is phasing out the badger cull — because it hasn’t worked. After all these years, bovine TB is still present at similar levels. The cull failed to tackle the real problem because it was never the badgers fault.
"The truth is that farmers, cattle, and badgers have all been let down in such cruel ways. It’s time to allow vets to do their jobs, using every available tool, including advanced diagnostic tests, to find and eliminate infection at its true source: in the herd and not in the clan," it concluded and was signed off by Anne, CEO of the trust.
Jeremy has made no secret of his disdain for badgers in the past joking on Clarkson's Farm that they should be "hit on the head with a hammer" to protect his cattle. Previously, Jeremy called Brian out in a tweet over a decade ago as he showed the damage badgers had caused to his farm.
Speaking to the Telegraph last year Brian said: "I don't think it's Jeremy Clarkson's fault because he doesn't know, he's a newcomer to this situation. But he's been advised by someone who's telling him that bovine TB can be passed by a cow sniffing a badger's breath. It's laughable. But he's got four million viewers on TV, so unfortunately, people are going to believe it."
Despite their opposing views, Brian has no bad blood with the Top Gear host despite the latter's previous scathing remarks.
"I would love to have a real heart-to-heart talk with Jeremy Clarkson. He has slagged me off, but I don't really get into that," he said in the chat.
