‘Condescending’ UK anti-hunting bill is revival of ‘colonial conquest’, says Botswana president
The president of Botswana has told Sky News an anti-hunting bill proposed by UK MPs is not only “condescending” but also a “resurgence of a colonial conquest”.
Ministers are to debate a proposed ban on UK safari hunters bringing body parts of animals they shoot, like tusks, back home.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi said he would be “abhorred, disappointed and disturbed” should the bill be passed, stressing the autonomy of Botswana as a democratic sovereign republic.
Speaking on The World With Yalda Hakim, Mr Masisi defended trophy hunting as “you pick which [animal] you hunt” whereas “culling” has a connotation of “ethical abhorrence” associated with it.
The president clarified that culling was the “indiscriminate elimination of a whole herd, mother, father and grandfather” – which was “not the same as hunting”.
Earlier, Botswana’s environment and tourism minister Dumezweni Mthimkhulu said “trophy hunting” was a way of controlling wild animal numbers in his country and a source of income for communities.
Politicians from African nations reportedly threatened to send 10,000 wild elephants to Hyde Park so British people know what it is like to live with them.
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‘Trophy hunting way of controlling elephants’
Asked if his country was really going to do this, Mr Mthimkhulu told Sky News’ Breakfast With Kay Burley it was a “rhetorical offer to the English” so they could understand the problems his people face.
He said elephant numbers in Botswana have almost “tripled” from 50,000 in 1984 to 130,000 in 2024 – causing “a lot of chaos”, with the animals in “constant conflict with humans”.
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He said scientists have advised the number that can be sustained in the natural habitat is 50,000.
Mr Mthimkhulu said the UK bill would be “counterproductive” and “discourage the people who are living with these animals from conserving and protecting them”.
He invited British politicians to “come and see” the “destruction” for themselves, adding he had been told former England footballer Gary Lineker is also in favour of a ban.
The Match Of The Day presenter previously branded the practice “truly abhorrent” in a social media post.
“I want to invite him to come to Botswana, so that he can really understand and see what is going on in the country with the elephants… with the trophy hunting,” Mr Mthimkhulu said.
Botwana says wild elephant numbers have almost tripled in the country during the last 40 years. Pic: VWPics/AP
The minister said he could not understand why some people in other countries find the pursuit abhorrent.
He said his government is supportive of trophy hunting because it is “controlled” and “good for our people”.
“Trophy hunting which is culling, is part of the way of the conservation of these animals,” he said.
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The minister said the numbers across all species in his country are going up every day, every year – not going down.
“It shows the conservation is going very well, and this conservation is done hand-in-hand with trophy hunting which helps the communities – it gives them a source of income,” he said.
He said to take that income away would “disincentivise” them from taking care of the wild animals and likely lead to demands for land – set aside for conservation – for farming and other income-generating activities.
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A ban on big game hunting was lifted in Botswana in 2019 amid claims elephant numbers were affecting small-scale farmers’ livelihoods.
In some parts of the country there are more elephants than people, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The bill to be debated by MPs on Friday is a Private Members Bill spearheaded by Labour MP John Spellar. It is not clear at this stage if the government will give it its backing.
A pledge to introduce a ban was in the Tory manifesto in 2019 and the government said late last year it was still committed to bringing one in.
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Follow live: Latest updates as flights halted
Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
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