HC Deb 22 July 1999 vol 335 cc659-60W
Mr. Bob Russell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 24 June 1999,Official Report, column 449, to the hon. Member for Rochdale (Lorna Fitzsimons), if he will suspend badger culling while alternatives are considered in response to recommendation 69 of the Standing Committee to the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. [92032]

Mr. Rooker

No. The Government believe that their present strategy and actions in controlling bovine TB, including the badger culling trial, represent the best means of finding a scientifically sound and sustainable policy for the long term. The Agriculture Select Committee report "Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis" (HC 233) endorses this view. The Government have responded to the Bern Convention recommendation explaining why the action they are pursuing is fully consistent with the provisions of the Convention.

Sir Richard Body

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he proposes to take to counter the rise in TB in dairy herds. [92432]

Mr. Rooker

In August 1998, the Government announced a five-point strategy of research and controls to deal with bovine tuberculosis, taking forward the recommendations of Professors Krebs and Bourne. This strategy was recently endorsed by the House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee as representing the best way forward. The Government's response to the Committee's report was published on 5 July (HC612) and sets out the steps being taken to control this disease.

Mr. Steen

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the conclusions of the MAFF programme on the link between badgers and the spread of bovine TB at East Offaly in the Irish Republic. [92221]

Mr. Rooker

Professor Krebs reviewed the data from previous large-scale badger clearances, including in the area of East Offaly in the Irish Republic. His conclusion was that the sum of evidencestrongly supports the view that badgers are a cause of herd breakdowns". Krebs noted, however, that the absence of adequate experimental controls in previous badger clearances, including the East Offaly clearance, made it impossible to eliminate alternative explanations for the observed fall in herd breakdown rates or to quantify the contribution that badgers made to bovine TB. He recommended a controlled experiment to test rigorously the effectiveness of different strategies in Great Britain and to provide a sound basis for future policy.

The Government accepted the Krebs' recommendations, and established the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, chaired by Professor John Bourne, to oversee their implementation and advise on other relevant scientific work. The work now in hand, including a randomised badger culling trial and new epidemiological and disease control research, aims to provide the information needed to secure a sustainable future policy to control TB in cattle.