§ MR. CATHCART WASON (Orkney and Shetland)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can state on what grounds permission is 1238 refused to erect a station at Alderney for the slaughter of animals; and what sum would accrue to the Treasury and to the States of Alderney by the establishment; of such a business.
§ * MR. GLADSTONEI am informed that the project involves the importation into Alderney of large numbers of Argentine cattle. The importation of these cattle into Great Britain is at present, owing to the prevalence in the Argentine Republic of foot and mouth disease, prohibited by an order of the Board of Agriculture, so as to give British stockowners security against the introduction of the disease; and the States of Guernsey have also recently passed an Ordinance prohibiting the landing in Guernsey and its dependencies of cattle from certain countries, including the Argentine Republic. If this project were approved there would be great risk of infectious diseases being brought into Alderney, which would, with the constant traffic that now exists, spread to the other islands. The result would be to ruin the Channel Islands breed of cattle, one of the chief industries, and to destroy the use of the islands for stock-raising purposes. A petition has been presented against the proposal to establish the abattoirs from some of the principal farmers in Alderney, as being detrimental to the best farming interests of the island. I have not sufficient information of the extent of the proposed operations of the company to enable me to say even approximately what sum would accrue to the Treasury or to the States of Alderney by the establishment of such a business.
§ MR. CATHCART WASONIf the States of Alderney impose the same restrictions as obtain in this country, will there be any objection?
§ * MR. GLADSTONEI am only the medium for conveying the information. I should therefore like to have notice.