Horsemeat (Food Fraud)

Order. Everybody wants to make their contribution, and the only way they will is by being a littl...

On Friday, No. 10 told the press that the Secretary of State was working hard at his desk, gettin...

You would not think that we had inherited Labour’s system would you, Mr Deputy Speaker? You reall...

Is it not absolutely right that this is a European problem that requires a European solution? Thi...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, ...

The Secretary of State says that there is no evidence of criminal activity in this country, but m...

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that inaccurate labelling is an offence. At the moment, ...

We have the red tractor and other farm assurance schemes that guarantee that meat from those sour...

I am entirely happy to recommend to all consumers in this country that they buy good British prod...

Will the Secretary of State explain why companies such as Tesco can consistently reject entire co...

Unlike the last Government, we have set up a groceries adjudicator, which answers the hon. Gentle...

May I express my entire confidence in how my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has dealt w...

My hon. Friend is right. It is a scandal that, despite our egg producers last year conforming to ...

Will the Secretary of State guarantee that cuts to the FSA and the introduction of the self-regul...

The hon. Lady, having read out a Whips’ handout, has unwittingly touched on an incredibly importa...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that prime responsibility must lie with the retailers, and that r...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Consumers must have faith in the products provided by the ret...

I am sure that the Secretary of State would agree that Findus still has serious questions to answ...

I talked to the UK chief executive of Findus on Saturday afternoon, but I think we have to be cau...

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his decisive action in this matter. Quite rightly, his pri...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for her comments. She is right to raise the issue of equine...

Highly processed foods of this kind are more likely to form a larger part of the diets of low-inc...

This is a serious misunderstanding. The hon. Lady must understand that under this system it is th...

Illegal meat trading is one of the most profitable criminal activities, with limited penalties. R...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Sadly, there is significant money to be made from this crimin...

Northern Ireland, like the rest of the United Kingdom, produces first-class meat products, but th...

I wholeheartedly concur with the hon. Gentleman’s sentiments. This is a fraud on the public. It i...

The Irish Food Safety Authority has been ahead of the Food Standards Agency every step of the way...

I would like to correct my hon. Friend a little. The reason the Irish agency picked up this issue...

I think we have all been shocked by these unacceptable failures in our food supply chain. Does th...

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I talked to her Minister, Richard Lochhead, only yesterday. Sh...

I am sure my right hon. Friend will be glad to know that many of us want to know whether the Euro...

My hon. Friend is absolutely spot-on to recognise the key role of the Commissioner, as this is a ...

Even allowing for the Secretary of State’s rather laid-back approach, does he not think it might ...

I am sorry the hon. Gentleman is unhappy with my demeanour. I am as active as I think he will fin...

Phenylbutazone is an incredibly common, but useful drug to all horse owners. The presence of a ve...

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct about that. That is why the FSA has today announced the new ...

The Secretary of State says that retailers and food processors have prime responsibility for the ...

Labour Members have got a nerve! For 13 years, year after year, Conservative Members brought forw...

May I offer my right hon. Friend my full support? Is this not an opportunity for patriotic purcha...

My hon. Friend has a good point. People are quite right to have great faith in their local suppli...

The Secretary of State professes great concern about what is in our meat and the importance of ac...

No, we operate on professional advice.

My right hon. Friend has told us that food regulation is an area of European competence. Some of ...

I look forward to sitting down with my hon. Friend and coming up with a legal definition of “disg...

Does the Secretary of State have confidence in the food chain, and is he confident that the impor...

It is interesting that the hon. Lady uses the term “food chain”. What we have seen in recent days...

I congratulate the Secretary of State on the speedy, effective, thorough and robust way in which ...

I totally agree with my hon. Friend, and he will be delighted to hear that the Under-Secretary of...

The hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Bill Wiggin), who is just leaving the Chamber, was absol...

The hon. Gentleman has, I think, missed the point. The Irish had local intelligence of a local pr...

May I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests? Given that the ...

My hon. Friend raises an important point. There has been a lot of acknowledgement around the Hous...

If my constituents are mis-sold a range of products, they will have rights. Does the Secretary of...

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that of course people have a right to take their pro...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that an obvious step we could take now is to ensure that the £2 b...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Significant sums of public money are spent on procurement...

What was the exact date on which the Secretary of State became aware that there was a problem wit...

We were told about it and it became public knowledge on the day the announcement was made—on 15 J...

If the moratorium on EU meat products cannot be enforced under EU rules, how does the Secretary o...

I would not use the word “contaminated”; these products are “adulterated”. This is a case of frau...

We would all dearly like to eat anything marked with a red tractor or a Scottish saltire, but as ...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that this needs resolving fast. I do not think any greater...

I very much welcome the wider debate about where our food comes from. Will my right hon. Friend j...

I wholly agree with my hon. Friend. I think shopping local is good: it is good for animal welfare...

I am astounded that the Secretary of State thinks that this is a mis-labelling issue, given that ...

I would like to reassure the hon. Gentleman that this is a case of mis-labelling and fraud; it is...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that Opposition Front Benchers are demonstrating a degree of oppo...

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. I think that that question threw the hon. Member for Wak...

Although the issue of food safety in Scotland has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament, this ...

As I think I said in answer to an earlier question, I had a very constructive conversation yester...

rose—

Order. Questions and answers must be very brief from now on.

When he cited the Irish example, my right hon. Friend spoke of the importance of intelligence. Ma...

Transparency is essential. On Saturday, we agreed that further tests would continue, and that the...

Given the concerns about horsemeat, and given the announcement at the end of January that pork DN...

That is an important point. Many faith groups would be shocked to find that they had bought inapp...

If negligent, incompetent or, indeed, criminal producers are happy to contaminate products with h...

That is a very important question. We have no evidence that any other meat product is being used ...

The Secretary of State has told us that this is an issue of fraud and mislabelling, but how can h...

I think I have made clear twice that from now on all horse carcases will be tested, and that none...

My constituents were horrified to hear of the circuitous route taken by some of the contents of e...

I am happy to make clear that the only grounds on which we could talk to the Commission about a b...

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his handling of this crisis, which has contrasted sharply ...

I think that a system can always be improved. We inherited the current system from the last Gover...

My constituency contains the abattoir of Woodhead Bros Meat Bros Co., in Colne. Woodhead, which i...

I have to admire the way in which Morrisons managed to penetrate every possible news outlet in or...

I understand the technical definition, but to many of my constituents a supposed beef product tha...

That is a good question. I assume that my hon. Friend means that the product was processed within...

I sympathise with my right hon. Friend, who cannot act freely because his actions are circumscrib...

Perhaps my hon. Friend would like to address that question directly to the Commissioner. All I ca...

Through the extensive use of their loyalty card schemes, the big supermarkets have a very good id...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. As I have said in my replies to Opposition Members, it is for ...

I applaud the Secretary of State’s robust approach to eating British food; that is something that...

My hon. Friend raises an important point. That is exactly what I am thinking of. I repeat that I ...

Consumer confidence is key. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the serious questions being aske...

I am very keen on more accurate labelling—the more information the better—and that is what the Un...