§ Mr. Roseasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the Manchester area concerning the export of live animals for slaughter.
§ Mrs. FennerApart from those made by the hon. Member we have had representations from the hon. Members for the Manchester divisions of Ardwick (Mr. Kaufman), Gorton (Mr. Marks) and Wythenshawe (Mr. Alfred Morris), from the Manchester City Council and from people living in the Manchester area.
§ Mr. Roseasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many investigations and breaches of the Bal-four Assurances concerning the humane treatment and slaughter of animals have been made since January 1972; and whether he will list the findings in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mrs. FennerWe received two main reports from welfare organisations in the first half of 1972 concerning exports of sheep to Belgium. These covered many breaches of the Balfour Assurances and were discussed with the Belgian Government. As a result strict licensing controls were introduced. Further reports of breaches affecting sheep and to some extent cattle were received at the end of 1972 and licences for the export of sheep were suspended from 1st February 1973. Two further reports concerning cattle, one largely a repetition of the other, were received in March and these and the earlier report concerning cattle have been referred to the Governments concerned for comment.