§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will confirm reports in recent issues of Farming News that on 3rd December 1985 Mr. K. W. Wilkes of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) sent a memorandum to Mr. Hepburn, Mr. Reese and Mr. Drummond of MAFF about the report on badgers and tuberculosis then being prepared by Professor Dunnet, and whether they will confirm that—
- (a) this memorandum was copied to the Secretary of the Dunnet Committee, Mr. Jeffrey;
- (b) the memorandum quotes an extract from a draft of Professor Dunnet's report to the effect that it is not justifiable to continue with the current policy, and then states words to the effect that "this is the sentence to be changed at all costs"; and
- (c) the memorandum sets out as one of MAFF's objectives "to try and persuade the team to draft the report in terms of endorsing the general policy. …"
§ Lord BelsteadA memorandum was circulated on 3rd December by the official named to those officials also named in the noble Lord's Question. The memorandum was copied to the Dunnet Committee's secretary for his information.
The memorandum was produced as a briefing note in preparation for a meeting held at the request of the 535WA Dunnet Committee, who wished to discuss their preliminary conclusions. In circulating a list of those conclusions to Ministry officials prior to the meeting the committee emphasised that they were still preliminary and necessarily briefly expressed. The officials were not shown any draft report either prior to or at the meeting.
The Ministry memorandum includes the words quoted by the noble Lord. The point at issue was that the Dunnet team's list of preliminary conclusions contained a number of criticisms of the then existing control procedures but they did not criticise the policy of trying to minimise the infection of cattle by badgers. For this reason the briefing note advised officials to suggest that the team should describe their criticisms as criticisms of the control strategy being used and not of the policy.
I would re-emphasise the assurances I have already given to the noble Lord that nothing has been said or done by the Ministry to infringe the Dunnet team's freedom to produce an independent report. Professor Dunnet has himself rejected any such allegations.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will place in the Library a copy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's memorandum dated 3rd December 1985 from Mr. K. W. Wilkes on the subject of the report by Professor Dunnet and his colleagues on badgers and bovine tuberculosis.
§ Lord BelsteadNo. The document in question is an internal ministry working paper which was prepared for use by officials at a meeting which Professor Dunnet and his colleagues had requested. The document does not deal with the report but with a list of preliminary conclusions which the review team had sent to the officials concerned in confidence.