Fury as Rishi Sunak ‘blocks efforts’ to help save swifts from extinction
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak may be a devoted “Swiftie” – but the prime minister’s government has provoked fury by reportedly blocking efforts to help save real swifts from extinction.Mr Sunak last summer went to a Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles and even took part in a cycling class set to the “Shake It Off” singer’s music. But the Tories are said to have vetoed a popular campaign to change the law to create homes for swifts, the globally threatened bird species whose populations have plummeted by more than half in the UK.The government denied it had blocked the move – but campaigners claim a purported official letter proves ministers “have no plans to legislate”.Conservationists backed by the RSPB want swift bricks to be compulsory in all new housing to provide homes for these birds.They say nesting sites are being increasingly blocked off by insulation and house-improvements across the UK. Modern buildings have fewer bird nest places, and those in old buildings are being destroyed.Swift populations in the UK plummeted by 60 per cent between 1995 and 2020, according to the British Trust for Ornithology, leading to the bird being added to the red list of species most threatened.Conservationists say nesting sites are being increasingly blocked off by insulation and house improvements More