Grey squirrels in comparison with Hamas as MP requires them to be given the tablet

Grey squirrels are “the Hamas of the squirrel world”, MPs heard as we speak.

Democratic Unionist Party MP Jim Shannon used a Westminster Hall debate to check the invasive creatures to Palestinian terrorists who slaughtered 1,200 Israelis final month. He stated: “Grey squirrels are the Hamas of the squirrel world.” Mr Shannon hit out as Tory backbencher Virginia Crosbie known as on ministers to take motion to regulate the numbers of greys and defend the UK’s native crimson squirrel inhabitants.

Ms Crosbie stated greys had been “hardier and more aggressive” than their crimson kinfolk, branding them “a menace to British biodiversity” which had been “threatening the very existence” of the native British squirrel. Opening the 30-minute debate, she informed MPs: “It’s clearly up to our government to reappoint them to their natural home as a much-loved native species.” The MP for Ynys Mon, North Wales, stated greys trigger “millions of pounds worth of damage to our woodlands by gnawing the bark off trees”.

The estimated annual value from gray squirrels to timber was £37million, she stated, with the species costing the UK economic system £1.8billion. There are an estimated 2.7million gray squirrels in Britain in contrast with 287,000 reds – together with fewer than 39,000 in England. Outlining measures the Government may take, Ms Crosbie advised reintroducing pine martens, which eat squirrels.

“Because grey squirrels are slower, larger, more populous and spend more time on the ground than their red cousins, they are easier prey for the pine marten,” she stated. “As non-native species, grey squirrels also lack the instinctive anti-predator response to pine marten scent that makes our red squirrels run for cover at one sniff.”

Pine martens have already been launched into the wild within the Forest of Dean, the place their impression on gray squirrels is being monitored. Ms Crosbie additionally stated trapping and capturing had been “effective” strategies however “not always particularly expedient” and “unpalatable to many people”.

She needed gray squirrels to be given contraceptives to cease them breeding. Ms Crosbie stated: “It’s certainly part of our potential armoury. When comparing contraception and pine martens, one could argue that while the public might prefer pine martens as a more natural solution, the grey squirrel may prefer taking the pill to facing off against the hungry pine marten.”

Calling for a “zero-tolerance approach” to greys, Conservative MP Trudy Harrison spoke about Beatrix Potter’s 1903 story The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. “Today I really do worry that such a book could not be written because the sight of red squirrels has sadly become so rare,” stated Ms Harrison. “It’s doubtful whether an author such as Ms Potter could become so inspired by the trials and tribulations of Nutkin, of Twinkleberry and their many cousins.”

Democratic Unionist Party MP Gregory Campbell feared allowing grey squirrels to continue unchecked would “eventually lead to the annihilation of the red”.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow insisted: “We are committed to controlling these pernicious grey squirrels.” She said a five-year government “Grey Squirrel Action Plan” would be published “very, very, very shortly”. But she added: “We need to tread with care over this subject of actually controlling them. But they are, it’s fair to say, an invasive, non-native species to our islands.”