Bovine TB

Having served on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee since its inception, I am in a reasonable position to say that our report had more effort and energy put into it, under the leadership of the right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack), than any of our other reports. A chilling statistic that we found in the epidemiological evidence was that the rate of infection was doubling every four and a half years, with every potential to speed up. We said that culling could never be the cornerstone of TB control, but what priority has the Secretary of State told the partnership group to give to our suggestion, which should be pursued, that post-movement testing of cattle moving from high-risk to low-risk areas should be accelerated if it is possible and effective?