Mr. Stephen Roosasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give consideration to the establishment of an independent inquiry to look into the problem of tuberculosis in cattle as a matter of priority.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerIn 1979 I asked Lord Zuckerman, president of the Zoological Society of London and of the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society, to undertake an independent inquiry into the whole question. In 1980 he published in his report the results of his thorough and far reaching inquiry which fully endorsed my Ministry's policy of badger control in connection with the eradication of bovine tuberculosis from cattle. He recommended that an overall review should be conducted at the end of three years and that will be done. I see no reason, therefore, to set up any inquiry before that time.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish his Department's original research on the problem of bovine tuberculosis in cattle which led to its badger destruction programme.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe evidence has been published in Lord Zuckerman's report, in successive annual reports of my Ministry and in appropriate scientific and professional journals.