Queen star 
adds guitar 
to badger cull song

A PROTEST song penned by a Bridlington piano teacher has been released – with rock legend Brian May on guitar.

Shirley Highton wrote the anti-badger cull tune Badger Boys between teaching students – and ended up being invited by Dr May, who is spearheading the protest, for a recording session at his home studio in Surrey.

The song – with the chorus “Vote for Brian May” – is being shared by campaign groups and has been released as a single on iTunes and Amazon, ahead of a huge demo in London on June 1.

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Dr May, the vice-president of the RSPCA, set up a petition, which has gained 224,000 signatures, urging the Government to ditch the cull in favour of a vaccination programme for badgers and cattle.

Mrs Highton posted the song on a save-the-badger website, not realising that its manager was a friend of the star. “She sent it to Brian and he liked it so much that they got in touch that they wanted to release it as a single. We spent a day pooling ideas and adding to the track. The track now has brass band sounds, drums, and much more backing singing, plus Brian on guitar. Watching Brian put his guitar part on the recording was absolute magic, to say the least.”

May insists the cull, which is due to begin in Gloucestershire and Somerset, is not the answer to eradicating bovine TB, saying that it is not only inhumane and impractical, but has also been proven to be ineffective in tackling the disease.

However supporters say the link between badgers, cattle and bovine TB was established back in 1997 by Sir John Krebs, and they have to get a grip on a disease which is “the biggest challenge facing the UK livestock industry today”.

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Defra said: “Nobody wants to kill badgers but scientific evidence and the experience of other countries shows that we will not get on top of this disease without addressing infection in both cattle and wildlife.”