§ 47. Mr. Peter Freemanasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will arrange for an inquiry into the use and practice of hen batteries which involve considerable cruelty to the birds concerned and cause widespread diseases and inferior quality eggs, many of which are unfit for human consumption.
Mr. T. WilliamsNo, Sir. I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. and gallant Member for Ayr Burghs (Sir T. Moore) on 2nd June last, when I said that in the absence of any evidence of cruelty I did not propose to reduce or abolish the battery system of keeping hens. I have no evidence to support the view that, with a normal standard of management, battery birds are either more prone to disease or produce eggs of lower quality than birds kept under other conditions.
§ Mr. FreemanIs my right hon. Friend aware that a report sent recently to "The Listener" states that many of these birds are kept in unnatural conditions, are unable to exercise their limbs, and are in an extremely poor state of health, and that neither they, after killing, nor the eggs they produce can be considered as fit for human consumption. Would the Minister take such letters as that into account?
§ Sir T. MooreIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that since I questioned him on this subject in June, I have received many letters from poultry breeders themselves condemning this practice, although not on the lines mentioned by the questioner, that the eggs are bad—they are not—but merely on the question of cruelty? Will not the Minister make further investigation or accept the evidence I have submitted to him?
Mr. WilliamsI can assure the hon. and gallant Member that this matter is 589 constantly under examination and whenever cruelty is proved, which is not the case yet, we will look at it.