Badger Culling (Hansard, 17 May 1999)

§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Donoughue)
My Lords, badgers are shot at close range by fully trained MAFF staff in accordance with detailed instructions. There are regular management checks.
10 Before any more badgers are shot the Government will conclude a contract with a welfare veterinarian to conduct an independent audit of the humaneness of the methods of dispatch and of the application of the written procedures.

§ Lord Islwyn
My Lords, does the Minister appreciate that in 1991 in the other place I introduced the Badgers Bill which ultimately became the Badgers Act? My objective was to protect badgers from various evildoers. Why are the Government now flouting the Bern Conventions and the Standing Committee guidelines on this issue? If the culling is to continue, will the Minister ensure that humane methods are used because there have been reports to the contrary?

§ Lord Donoughue
My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on his great contribution to the welfare and protection of animals, particularly badgers. I can assure him that maximum efforts will be made by the department to ensure that all badgers are killed in the most humane way possible in the recently launched culling, one hopes starting a trend to that effect. My noble friend asked why we are doing so. The reasons are quite clear. We are doing so for reasons of public health and for the welfare of cattle herds. My noble friend may not be aware that the number of cattle herds affected by TB has increased since 1985 by some 900 per cent, from 88 herds to something like 736 herds last year. It is a growing threat to human health because humans can suffer from TB which is derived from bovine TB. It also causes considerable damage to farmers, who suffer from loss of herds and restrictions on travel, and whose compensation is less than 20 per cent of the associated cost of a breakdown. So there are two reasons: human health and animal health. The professional, scientific Krebs Report stated firmly that there was compelling indirect evidence that badgers played a significant part in the infection of cattle. Any responsible government would take the measures we are taking, which are scientifically based and follow the Krebs Report.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, does the Minister agree that 20 per cent compensation is a highly dangerous figure when one considers the harm which was done by paying only 50 per cent in cases of BSE?

§ Lord Donoughue
My Lords, the figure of 20 per cent—slightly less—relates to compensation for slaughtered cattle. We have increased the compensation compared to the previous government from 75 to 100 per cent of market value. It would not be proper to pay full compensation. After all, the taxpayer pays for all testing and vaccine research in this area.

§ Lord Pilkington of Oxenford
My Lords, has the Minister given any thought to the great pressure put on the health of the dairy cow by three milkings a day and to the diseases this can cause?

§ Lord Donoughue
My Lords, indeed we have. We are taking an integrated approach to the problem. We 11 assume that badgers are probably a major contributory factor but there are many other factors. It is quite possible that the greater intensity of farming may make cattle more vulnerable.

§ Lord Hardy of Wath
My Lords, in the early 1970s, when I was taking the first badgers' protection Bill through the House, I suggested to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that it should take entire responsibility for any culling that was absolutely necessary. Does the Minister not agree that the Ministry adopted that approach in order to avoid the unnecessary destruction of badgers, animals which in all other areas are eminently desirable and to be welcomed? Does my noble friend accept that that policy must continue? Is my noble friend aware that a number of informed and concerned people take the view that the contribution of eminent scientists on a recent Channel 4 television programme raises some questions? I did not see the programme but I have no doubt that the Minister's department is aware of it. What answer will the Ministry give to people who share the concerns expressed on that programme?

§ Lord Donoughue
My Lords, I congratulate another of my noble friends on his great contribution in this area through the 1973 Act. I, too, did not see the television programme. I can assure him that it is the Ministry's view—it was the view then—that any culling should be carried out in a controlled, disciplined and humane way. We are aware that some scientists and many farmers question some of the scientific approach and there are badger groups which reject all of the scientific approach. The Government's approach is to take the balanced view—to protect public health; to obtain the maximum protection for animal and badger welfare; to follow the scientific advice, but not only in one area. We have an integrated approach and we are pursuing research in a whole number of areas, not only culling.