HC Deb 24 March 1994 vol 240 cc410-2
9. Mr. Harry Greenway

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many equines were slaughtered in the United Kingdom in the past year; how many of those equines were slaughtered for consumption (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) abroad; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Soames

Seven slaughterhouses in the United Kingdom are licensed to slaughter horses. Last yeas, they handled some 4,000 equines for human consumption.

Data are not kept on the destination of the meat, but, so far as the Department is aware, the vast majority of the meat produced was exported.

Mr. Greenway

Does my hon. Friend agree that if foreigners must eat our horses, they should accept them slaughtered rather than transported alive? Is not that a much more humane way for horsemeat to be sent abroad? Does he agree that this country has no tradition of eating horses and that our history, culture and fame are built on the back of horses? Will he promise that, like me, he will never eat a horse as long as he lives?

Mr. Soames

I feel that the House should know that I have never, and will never, eat a horse. My hon. Friend is a doughty champion of the interests of horses. Although eating horses is alien to the British people, we must acknowledge that some of our friends within the excellent single market to which we belong have strange habits and wish to eat horses. We do not permit the export of horses for slaughter; they are slaughtered in this country and exported on the hook. The minimum value system has served this country well and we will continue to stick to it, come what may.

Mr. Flynn

Does the Minister agree that, every year, this country exports 1.8 million live animals, often in conditions of great cruelty? Can he not begin to stop that cruelty by banning the export of live calves, which are exported from this country at an early age, mainly to Holland, and raised in a process that is banned here?

Mr. Soames

Even the tortured mind of the Opposition must know the difference between a calf and a horse. The hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that it is possible for animals to be transported in a humane and decent fashion. We seek to export our welfare standards for animals to the rest of Europe. Whenever we have an opportunity to prosecute those who break the rules, we do so with great vigour.

Mr. Paice

My hon. Friend knows that I am privileged to represent the centre of the British bloodstock industry around Newmarket. Despite the assurances that he gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, North (Mr. Heald), does he accept that no measures relating to equines for human consumption should be allowed to impinge on the effective running of the stud farming industry, in which Britain is, and always will be, pre-eminent?

Mr. Soames

My hon. Friend is right. He represents with great distinction the headquarters of the British racing industry—another industry in which Britain leads the world—and is fully aware that the Jockey Club issues licences for the export of horses. Those are perfectly normal licences, issued in the everyday conduct of the business of horses going abroad for sporting purposes, such as polo or racing. We are entirely satisfied with our minimum value system and I am happy to give my hon. Friend the absolute assurance that he seeks.

Mr. Morley

The Minister will be aware that, sadly, New Forest ponies often supply much of the horsemeat trade. However, is he aware that, due to falling prices for horsemeat, there is a worrying new trade in supplying New Forest ponies for laboratory research, particularly to the Glasgow university veterinary school? I understand from the Home Office that some of those ponies arrive there in poor condition due to poor handling and transportation. The Home Office says that it is a matter for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Will the Minister assure the House that action will be taken to ensure that the highest standards are maintained?

Mr. Soames

With the usual admirable co-operation for which the Government are rightly famed, I have not been told of that case. However, if the hon. Gentleman chooses to make those details available to me, I will look at them. The minimum value system—the system which protects those animals that are most vulnerable, such as the Shetland and other small ponies—really does work. It has stood us in good stead and we will stick to it.

As to the other point, the hon. Gentleman knows that it is perfectly possible to transport animals decently. If they are not transported decently, the matter should be looked into with all the vigour that the law can command.