9th October, 2013, 11:59 am

Tory Cabinet Minister says “badgers are moving the goalposts”

Congratulations to Owen Patterson, the Secretary of State for DEFRA, who has come out with one of the all time great nonsense quotes of our time (via Patrick Wintour):

“I am not moving the goalposts. The badgers are moving the goalposts.”

Damn those crafty goalpost shifting badgers…

Tags: Owen Patterson / Badgers /

More from LabourList

Grassroots voices

‘Kicking foreign nationals out of their council homes is illiberal, immoral and financially incoherent’

With weary predictability, the news drops of the Conservative Party’s latest attempt to outcompete Reform, on the questionable…

Danny Adilypour

16th August, 2026, 10:00 am

News

Jayne Bryant MS calls for recall of Senedd to respond to wildfires

Labour politicians have renewed demands for the Welsh Parliament to be recalled as wildfires ravage parts of South…

Andrew Bettridge

15th August, 2026, 11:45 am

Grassroots voices

‘The Greens’ performative weekly litter picks let council failures go unchallenged’

Most people want clean streets and parks, and they recognise that maintaining public spaces is a vital public…

Selena Gray & Saba Manzoor

15th August, 2026, 10:22 am