§ LORD DALMENY (Edinburgh, Midlothian)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, with reference to the recent Midlothian and District Foot-and-Mouth Disease Order, and having regard to the extent of the county of Midlothian and 985 to the fact that the outlying districts of the county are unaffected by disease, he will issue an order excluding from the infected area West Calder and similar centres, and thus placing them on the same footing as Edinburgh and Leith for slaughtering purposes.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) We issued an Order yesterday which will place West Calder and similar centres on the same footing as Edinburgh and Leith for slaughtering purposes. It will come into operation on Monday next. The necessity for keeping West Calder under stringent restrictions is due to the fact that manure from the infected byre was deposited in that parish.