Now I know that Defra have the prize-winning Twitter team. They use Twitter more skilfully than any other government department, which I think is really interesting. And I also know that the NFU (National Farmers Union) put in place a Twitter mechanism and encourage their county chairs to use Twitter. These are really big changes – this technology didn’t exist in the early part of the period that we’re reviewing. But nevertheless it is about social engagement and it’s about trying to influence policy, which is based on something very complicated. It’s been very interesting to see this unfold and it’s not going to stop. Dr Gordon McGlone, A History of Bovine TB c.1965–c.2000.
Dr Gordon McGlone OBE BSc MBA PhD MCIEEM CEnv (b. 1951) graduated in Botany with Zoology from the University of Wales, University College Swansea (UCS), in 1972. He went on to carry out PhD research into the accumulation and toxicity of heavy metals to marine phytoplankton. He worked in the Botany Department of UCS as Research Demonstrator in Environmental Botany until 1979 when he took up the appointment of Executive and Conservation Officer with the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation. He became involved with the subject of badgers and bovine TB from 1979, becoming a member of the Minister’s Advisory Panel and the spokesperson for the Wildlife Trusts, giving evidence to select committee in 1999.
