§ 21. Mr. Gorstasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce legislation containing stricter measures to deal with the burning of stubble; and if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT actual or estimated figures showing the cost of damage caused by such fires during the past five years.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Huntingdonshire (Sir D. Renton) and the hon. Member for Wandsworth, Central (Mr. Thomas Cox) on 18th October.—[Vol. 861, c. 254–5.] I regret that the information requested in the second part of the Question is not available.
§ Mr. GorstWill my hon. Friend take account of the fact that the incineration of the countryside and the destruction of hedges and trees is not declining but is increasing year by year and is a hazard not merely to the farming community but also to the environment as a whole?
§ Mr. StodartI take the point. My information is that there have been fewer incidents this year, certainly as regards call-outs of fire brigades, than there were last year. But I attach great seriousness to the point which my hon. Friend has made.