Bovine TB

The hon. Gentleman talks about the suffering of badgers. As he will be aware, section 6 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 allows someone to put down a badger if it is seriously injured or in such a condition that to do so"““would be an act of mercy””." That is what the law currently says. I understand the frustration felt by those with closed herds, but the evidence from the randomised badger culling trial was that the reaction would be, ““I've got a closed herd, there are badgers, it must have come from them, let's cull them.”” That is reactive culling, and the evidence was very clear that reactive culling makes the disease worse. That may not be what people would assume to be the answer to the question, but it is. A lot of badgers were culled in order to provide that information, on the basis of which I have made my judgment.