§ Mr. Farrasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the results of the experimental clearance by his Department of badgers in 719W parts of Gloucestershire, with a view to limiting the spread of bovine tuberculosis.
§ Mr. StrangEffective clearance operations of this kind, where essential to the interests of human and animal health, call for the use of cyanide gas. My right hon. Friend does not propose to authorise use of this technique, by licensed persons, until his powers to do so have been placed beyond question under amending legislation contained in the Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Protection Bill. The Department will then provide progress reports, as necessary, on any clearance measures in those small areas, including that to which the hon. Member refers, where clearance may be justified for this important but limited purpose.