I will never, ever, understand our laws and how they work. On Page 4 of The Press on June 1 I read a small paragraph about the threatened slaughter of badgers in Gloucestershire and Somerset, noting that the policing costs involved against potential disruption from activists will be about £4m.

On Page 11, I read that a scheme intended to provide faster internet links to Easingwold is to be held up because engineers have found badger setts in the area and a specialist consultant has been called in to assess whether the setts are “active”.

On the one hand, thousands of these beautiful animals, proved to be totally innocent of the crime of which they are accused, ie causing TB in cattle, are to be cruelly wiped out, and yet they would have us believe that an important scheme is to be held up to preserve other badgers’ living quarters. What a barbaric and upside-down world we live in!

I pray that there is enough disruption by activists to have this slaughter called off. The £4m that would be saved could help compensate farmers for the loss of cattle with TB – better still, used to vaccinate cattle, the proved and sane way to protect them.

Heather Causnett, Escrick Park Gardens, Escrick, York