Patrick Galbraith

Patrick Galbraith is the Telegraph’s environment correspondent.

Thursday

Patrick Galbraith

Spectator Out Loud: Noa Hoffman, Robert Hardman, Patrick Galbraith & Matthew Reisz

From our UK edition

33 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Noa Hoffman explains why Keir Starmer’s empty seat could become a Green Party battleground; Robert Hardman tells us how the death of Norway’s King Harald could reshape the royal family; Patrick Galbraith says it has been a disastrous year for British farming; and Matthew Reisz explores the unique relationship between artist Paula Rego and her model, Anthony Rudolf. Produced and presented by Abigail Brierley.

Spectator Out Loud: Noa Hoffman, Patrick Galbraith, Robert Hardman & Matthew Reisz
Patrick Galbraith

In defence of trophy hunting

From our UK edition

‘Why would anyone want to destroy something so beautiful, then stuff its poor lifeless body to keep as some kind of macabre trophy?’ In her first speech after moving into Downing Street, Carrie Symonds, the PM’s girlfriend, chose to attack trophy hunting. ‘A trophy is meant to be a prize, something you’re awarded if you’ve achieved something of merit that requires great skill and talent,’ she said. ‘Trophy hunting is not that — it is the opposite of that. It is cruel, it is sick, it is cowardly and I will never, ever understand the motivation to do it.’ Carrie is not alone. Lately, it feels as though there isn’t a TV celebrity who doesn’t feel outraged about shooting big game.

Wednesday

Patrick Galbraith

How much more can British farmers endure?

From our UK edition

Lately, for reasons that are far too baroque to go into, my wife and I have been looking at farm tenancy agreements from 1983. In a way they are deeply dull (all those drains and clauses about fence maintenance) but they are also fascinating in that they reveal how farming has changed. If you were after a few fields for your sheep or cattle, back when Culture Club’s ‘Karma Chameleon’ was riding high at no. 1, you had to really fork out. Ten pounds an acre, for pretty marginal land, was the going rate, and rent rises year on year were the order of the day. Fast forward 40 years and a lot of grazing is worth almost nothing.

Thursday

Patrick Galbraith

Born to be wild: the plight of salmon worldwide

From our UK edition

In the Pacific Northwest, Native Americans paint images of salmon on to stones. They say that if you rub those stones you will acquire the fish’s two great qualities: determination and energy. Not so long ago these communities’ diets consisted of more than 80 per cent salmon, and they believed it to be a wondrous thing that the migratory fish returned on the same week every year. They also believed they ‘owed the salmon respect and gratitude’ — and if they failed in this they might stop coming back. In the 19th and 20th centuries their fears were realised. But it wasn’t Native Americans who were disrespectful to the once abundant salmon; it was those who came from Europe, with a wish to get rich and tame the wild.

Thursday

Patrick Galbraith

The commercialisation of shooting may kill the whole sport

From our UK edition

A few years ago I was sitting on the sofa at Sandringham enjoying a ham sandwich with the Queen’s then-head gamekeeper, David Clarke. The thing about working for the royals, he said, is that if a drive’s a flop, they completely understand. What Clarke meant is that even if no royal bags a bird, they won’t complain. It’s about the day, not the numbers dead. Sandringham (unsurprisingly) provides a snapshot of a bygone sporting era, a time when most shooting syndicates were collections of friends and locals, before entrepreneurial types sussed there was a few quid to be made out of shooting. Nowadays, armed with just an iPhone, a bloke on his City law firm lunch break can book a day where a bag of 500 pheasants is guaranteed.

Sunday

Patrick Galbraith

In defence of trophy hunting | 8 September 2019

From our UK edition

‘Why would anyone want to destroy something so beautiful, then stuff its poor lifeless body to keep as some kind of macabre trophy?’ In her first speech after moving into Downing Street, Carrie Symonds, the PM’s girlfriend, chose to attack trophy hunting. ‘A trophy is meant to be a prize, something you’re awarded if you’ve achieved something of merit that requires great skill and talent,’ she said. ‘Trophy hunting is not that — it is the opposite of that. It is cruel, it is sick, it is cowardly and I will never, ever understand the motivation to do it.’ Carrie is not alone. Lately, it feels as though there isn’t a TV celebrity who doesn’t feel outraged about shooting big game.