For years, I have admired the passion and the presenting skill that have made Chris Packham a compelling voice for wildlife on the
BBC. I live in the Green Belt (under threat from Labour), so treasure my garden, a haven for wildlife, including the birds, foxes and badgers that the BBC presenter champions.
Like him, I detest fake grass and other betrayals of the natural world. Factory-farming and other forms of animal cruelty disgust me, and I know that voices raised for those who cannot speak are an essential part of a nation’s moral fibre.
Having written all that, and believing so deeply that the RSPCA at its best does much good, how can I even begin to convey my regret that he has just been named the charity’s president?
Chief executive Chris Sherwood called him ‘a much-loved and well-respected voice for all animals who speaks to a wide range of society’.
But because Packham is such a controversial and overtly political figure, he certainly does not speak to, or for, ‘a wide range of society’. On the contrary, he is a member of the Left-leaning elite that speaks to a minority and tries to drown out other voices.
It’s notable that he revealed his new role with the RSPCA at the Chelsea Flower Show, where three Just Stop Oil protesters chucked orange paint over a beautiful sustainable garden, shocking visitors and perhaps killing some of the insects Packham is so keen to protect. You may recall he castigated I’m A Celebrity... for using insects in Bushtucker Trials, calling it ‘abuse’.
Having previously commended these extremists, he was seen interviewing protesters during one of their infuriating slow marches on the streets of London on Friday. He was filming a documentary for Channel 4 but I wouldn’t hold your breath for an impartial inquisition of their disruptive tactics.
Only last month he urged ‘every last person who cares’ about the planet to join the eco-fanatics of Extinction Rebellion. But what must he make of the reckless behaviour of its sister group Animal Rising? On Thursday, activists snatched three lambs from King Charles’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Might the new president of the RSPCA have something to say on what must be a distressing episode for the lambs, now currently without their mothers?
Packham is not short on a comment or two otherwise. The BBC presenter repeatedly uses uncompromising language and, just like Gary Lineker, wastes no opportunity to exploit his fame to push his views. His bias was made clear when he retweeted Labour firebrand Angela Rayner’s notorious tirade against ‘sickening Tories’ in 2020.
In another campaign to promote a Left-wing website, he said: ‘It’s becoming, sadly, increasingly difficult to find integrity, honesty and truth in news.’ What does the ‘neutral’ BBC newsroom think of a colleague tacitly denigrating their work? In the same promotional video was Labour’s now-ostracised ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Last year, Packham expressed support for a group of hunt saboteurs, and urged his fans to donate to the looney-Left Novara Media website, run by a man who has blasted the Royal British Legion’s poppy campaign as ‘racist’.
For all his talents as a wildlife presenter, then, Packham’s politics attract huge and understandable controversy – including when it comes to the natural world. In 2015, the Countryside Alliance called for him to be sacked from the BBC’s Springwatch for his ‘slanted and extreme animal-rights views’.
The organisation campaigns for those who hunt (including with terriers), shoot and fish, while Packham has railed against such people, as ‘the nasty brigade’.
For all his talents as a wildlife presenter, then, Packham’s politics attract huge and understandable controversy – including when it comes to the natural world
I also think he was wrong to attack farmers who had the right to shoot crows. If you’ve ever seen a crow slaughter fledglings, you’ll find it hard to sentimentalise them.
He has even called for people to stop mowing their lawns. How does that sit with gardeners?
Yes, it is unacceptable that Packham’s views have attracted vandalism of his property and death threats. Yet isn’t there a risk the same views could cause trouble for the RSPCA?
My point is that when Packham climbs on his soapbox, people listen – but others turn away in irritation. And that’s what worries me about his new grandstand at Britain’s best-known animal charity.
Those who were proud of the RSPCA’s noble history may reflect that Packham is just the latest example of its shift from welfare to warmongering – only further cementing its tragic decline.
The rot started in 2012 when chief executive Gavin Grant, a Lib Dem activist, launched several high-profile court cases, including one against David Cameron’s local hunt, the Heythrop. The hunt was convicted of using hounds to chase foxes, but the magistrate censured the RSPCA for wasting a ‘staggering’ £326,000 on the case.
In 2013, it was accused of straying into politics for its protests against live exports and badger-culling. Those campaigns, as well as one against the Grand National, were so controversial that donations fell by about £7 million.
‘Legacies from old ladies’ (as generosity has been patronisingly dubbed) started to dry up. If the elderly person who loves cats and dogs but also enjoys watching horse racing or going fishing sees their favourite charity attacking such pursuits, why should they donate?
Those who were proud of the RSPCA’s noble history may reflect that Packham is just the latest example of its shift from welfare to warmongering. pictured joining activists from Just Stop Oil on May 26 2023
Though his love of animals is undoubtedly heartfelt, Packham seems to have little interest in appealing to the hearts and minds of traditional RSPCA supporters, let alone the bulk of the British people.
Even pet-owners, surely the RSPCA’s natural constituency, were stupidly alienated. In a number of cases it seized animals because somebody had accused owners of ill-treatment, and the poor creatures were put down before the accusation could be proved wrong.
By 2017 – when the Charity Commission placed the RSPCA under formal observation for the way it was being run – critics were saying it had been ‘hijacked by zealots’ as hardliners were gradually elected to the governing council, in that typical way the Left takes over institutions. Packham’s appointment suggests who won the war between the old school animal lovers and more militant activists.
With its turnover of leaders (eight in 11 years) and internal squabbling, the RSPCA – despite all its good work – seems to have become a destructive mixture of politicisation and incompetence. What a sorry fall as it approaches its 200th anniversary next year.
Though his love of animals is undoubtedly heartfelt, Packham seems to have little interest in appealing to the hearts and minds of traditional RSPCA supporters, let alone the bulk of the British people.
A Leftist activist, he has demonstrated an utter dislike of this Government and displayed no understanding of nuance or tolerance in dealing with anybody who disagrees with him. He is bound to turn many RSPCA supporters against a charity founded with the most honourable intentions. I fear his appointment will not end well.
