Stop the Killing Bill
The Government’s Planning & Infrastructure Bill (PIB) will allow the killing of badgers for development. The Protection of Badgers Act is under attack, with badgers facing a threat more damaging than the Badger Cull - why? Because unlike the Badger Cull, the PIB will apply to all of England.
What is the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB)?
The Labour Party made significant promises in its election manifesto about overhauling the planning system to reach its goal of building 1.5 million new homes.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was introduced to Parliament in March 2025 and is a key component of the Government’s strategy to deliver this, aimed at speeding up decision-making, unlocking land for development and streamlining the delivery of new homes.
Why the PIB is a threat to badgers
The Bill threatens to rip apart decades of wildlife protection. Hidden deep in the Bill is Part 6 — a dangerous amendment that will quietly dismantle the Protection of Badgers Act (1992), one of the few laws standing between badgers and destruction.
This Act, brought into existence in 1992, is a hard-fought legal protection for an animal that has suffered unprecedented persecution for decades. Now, for the first time ever, this PIB would allow badgers to be killed or forcibly removed just to make way for development.
This is not about balance. This is not about progress. This is about putting concrete before conservation — and sacrificing one of Britain’s most iconic species to do it.
Why the Government says the Bill is needed
Ministers argue that wildlife is a “blocker” to development, claiming that badgers and other protected species slow down housing and infrastructure projects.
But this is simply not true.
-
Natural England itself has confirmed wildlife is not the issue.
-
In fact, it advises thousands of developers every year, and objects to less than 1% of planning applications.
-
There is no evidence that badgers delay building projects.
Badgers are being made a scapegoat for government failures on housing targets.
Tell your MP
Protect the Act
What Part 6 means for badgers
Part 6 of the Bill states that badgers can be killed or forcibly relocated for development, drainage, or the poorly defined notions of “overriding public interest.”
This is a fundamental shift - Amending the Protection of Badgers Act to allow killing for development weakens its core protection and sets a dangerous precedent.
Badgers have been horrifically persecuted for hundreds of years, which is why they have protection; to weaken it is to condemn more badgers to cruelty and death.
Also such vague wording creates dangerous legal loopholes and would make enforcement nearly impossible.This is not safeguarding.
This is legalised persecution.
What we’re calling for
We urge the government to:
Remove Part 6, Section 2 from the Planning & Infrastructure Bill to prevent lethal control for development purposes.
The Protection of Badgers Act needs to be kept as it is — It took decades for badgers to gain the protection they desperately needed after relentless persecution. It protects a species that cannot defend itself. Any development must focus on evidence-based planning that integrates wildlife rather than destroying it.
Photograph by Jay Poole
Take Action: Protect the Act
We cannot let this Bill pass unchallenged. Badgers cannot speak for themselves — but you can be their voice.
🦡 Write to your MP: Demand they oppose Part 6 of the Bill and protect the Protection of Badgers Act. Find your MP and use our letter template. Feel free to add your own comments.
🦡 Visit your MP’s surgery: Show your community stands with wildlife.
🦡 Share this campaign: Spread the word before it’s too late. We will be posting all campaign updates on our Instagram and Facebook accounts as well as on our website.
🦡 Read and share our campaign briefs for you and your MP.
🦡 Donate to the campaign: Your gift fuels our fight to challenge the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, defend the Protection of Badgers Act, and ensure badgers have a voice when they need it most.
Together, we can stop the Killing Bill.
Why badgers need protection
Badgers have been persecuted for centuries — hunted, baited, and culled.
The 1992 Act was a turning point, offering long-overdue protection. The last official badger population estimate was 485,000. But since then:
-
Over 247,000 badgers have been killed in culls.
-
Road collisions and illegal persecution continue to claim thousands every year.
Despite this, the government continues to insist that badger populations remain “robust”, yet no independent research or credible evidence has ever been published to support that claim.
This Bill represents the biggest threat badgers have faced in a generation, and as it impacts badgers across the whole of England, it could be even more significant than the cull.
Photograph by Nigel Kingston
The myth of ‘Faster Development’
The government claims that killing badgers will speed up building projects.
But the facts say otherwise:
-
Badgers quickly recolonise sites where others are killed. Killing doesn’t solve anything — it just causes more disruption.
-
Developers already have solutions: sett exclusion, artificial setts, and habitat integration.
Killing badgers adds nothing except cruelty.
This Bill is not about speeding up development. It is about removing one of the last barriers to reckless building at nature’s expense.
The bigger picture
This is not just about badgers. They have dedicated legal protection for a reason: without it, persecution and habitat loss would push the population to the bring of extinction.
If those protections can be dismantled, what chance does any species have?. The PIB opens the door to a future where wildlife laws are rewritten for the convenience of developers over everything else.
We must end the Badger Blame Game — and hold the government to account for the real barriers to housing, rather than scapegoating nature.
Join us
Badgers are part of Britain’s heritage. They are resilient, social, and iconic — but only if we stand up for them.
Say no to the Killing Bill. Defend their homes. Their lives. Their Act.
