Badger Cull
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Weir.
I make it clear for the record ...
The hon. Gentleman says that there is no justification for the cull, so why is it that the Republ...
Show all contributions (104)
I will develop my argument, but the hon. Gentleman is misquoting the statistics relating to Irela...
Order. Quiet in the Chamber. A lot of people want to speak in this debate, so I ask for quiet and...
Does not the evidence show that, even with the cull, the targets cannot be achieved? More importa...
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I will address his point if I have time.
Does my hon. Friend agree that this debate is on so-called control of mainland badgers? Will he p...
My hon. Friend is absolutely right.
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
May I develop my argument a little further, because I have only just started? I have read only th...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
May I carry on a little longer?
As we know, the cull has been a dismal failure. The policy ...
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate.
Scotland is virtually clear of TB in...
My hon. Friend is right that the Government should look at evidence from elsewhere in the United ...
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. He mentioned my parliamentary question...
The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I will address her point a little later.
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I will carry on before taking a few more interventions.
What I find so scandalous about the...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I will give way in a moment.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is with...
Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that there is some scientific evidence in favour of a cull, as...
The fact is that the Welsh Government rejected any suggestion of a cull and are going ahead with ...
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. He mentioned the science and...
One would certainly hope that the Government would. I am going to refer to Lord Krebs in a moment...
The hon. Gentleman is making a most impassioned speech, albeit one with which I do not entirely a...
I have fundamental objections to the cull. All the evidence demonstrates that it is likely to mak...
The culls are making matters worse, and yet Members are straining at the leash to intervene to su...
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. The hon. Gentleman gives the impression...
I of course concede that some small percentage of individuals—pseudo-scientists, some might call ...
On a point of order, Mr Weir. The British Veterinary Association has just been referred to as a g...
That is not a point of order. Interventions as points of order are not going to help matters. Man...
I actually said that some might say that they are—[Interruption.] I urge hon. Members to check Ha...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I will not give way at the moment.
I wonder what on earth the Secretary of State is doing. ...
I wish to take up the hon. Gentleman’s point about doing the same thing over and over again. My g...
The hon. Gentleman is exaggerating slightly. That will be necessary only in the hot spot areas. H...
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that even if we killed every badger in the UK it would not eradicat...
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. It is a moot point whether badgers are responsible for in...
I am about to conclude my remarks. I simply say that I hope that the Government listen to the deb...
The hon. Gentleman has been generous in taking interventions. I want to make one quick point. Dur...
The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I am delighted that Government Members are as passionate as I ...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I will not take any more interventions, as I know other people want to speak. I know that some Me...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way on the point about the controversy?
If the hon. Gentleman will let me finish on this point, he will, I hope, be able to come in befor...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I am about to conclude.
If Ministers are so sure of their position, they should have nothin...
Order. A very large number of Members are seeking to speak in the debate. I do not know whether w...
It is a delight to be able to speak in this Chamber again, having emerged from my sett. I congrat...
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the issue is not only the misery of farmers and the impact o...
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I did not oppose the cull when it was first proposed, simply ...
The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Lay people do not necessarily get the informat...
I could not possibly comment, and the hon. Gentleman would not expect me to. I have not looked in...
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Weir. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Mem...
Will the hon. Lady give way?
I will give way just once, because of the time limits and because other Members want to speak.
I thank the hon. Lady for generously giving way. On the point about scientific evidence, the deba...
The scientific evidence I was referring to was the 10-year, £50-million project, which is the fun...
I shall be brief, and stick to practical concerns including one or two claims that have been made...
I know that the hon. Gentleman said he would leave the science to the Minister, but it would be g...
I am grateful for the lesson on countryside management. Actually the method of control is similar...
Surely it would have been most sensible to mark the ammunition used in the pilot, so that the pub...
The Natural England licensing conditions are clear about the sort of ammunition and weaponry that...
I give way, because no one else gave way to my hon. Friend.
It is nice of you to take pity on me; don’t cull me.
The only body that has been sanctioned...
My hon. Friend makes a good point.
I have 21 seconds left, so I shall say that farmers do a...
I add my congratulations to those given to the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) on ...
Does the hon. Lady agree that newer approaches to vaccination are emerging and could reduce the c...
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his helpful intervention. I agree with him absolutely, and I am fa...
I am grateful to you, Mr Weir, for allowing me to catch your eye. I grew up on a dairy and pig fa...
Will the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that the social structure of the badger population in Britain...
Having watched badgers, I know that when a badger gets TB it goes into the bottom of the sett, di...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I will give way to the hon. Lady in a moment.
If we keep imposing those costs on our farmer...
Many farmers in my constituency have an enormous problem with DEFRA and its agencies in respect o...
Nobody would condone any farmer or anybody breaking the biosecurity regime. In fact, the Governme...
I, too, would like to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) o...
Order. There are still a lot of Members trying to speak. I want to call the Front-Bench Members a...
I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) for securing the debate; he m...
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Weir. I congratulate my ...
My primary concern as I approach this subject is for the lives and livelihoods of livestock farme...
I appreciate your stewardship of the debate, Mr Weir. I want to make three brief points and try t...
To take an intervention from the hon. Gentleman.
No, not to take an intervention; I do not care if the hon. Member for Derby North does not want t...
This is a very difficult, complex, sensitive and not straightforward issue, but despite all that,...
Is my hon. Friend aware that the advice of the chief vet in Wales to the former Government in Wal...
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, principally because it gives me another minute. I a...
It is great to be here under your chairmanship, Mr Weir. I will have to rattle through some of my...
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is a bit of a cheek for the Government to say that the pilo...
That is absolutely right. I do not have time to cover everything, so I will write to the Minister...
I congratulate the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) on securing what has been a liv...
Will the Minister give way?
I will make some headway.
A number of European countries that have a known problem with TB ...
The Minister makes the case with international comparisons, but he must acknowledge that the stru...
I do not accept that, because the randomised badger culling trial, cited by many hon. Members tod...
I pay tribute to the Minister for the work I know he has been doing on this subject. Farmers know...
We have a badger vaccine deployment fund of approximately £250,000 a year. Uptake has been slight...
My constituents are deeply concerned about the issue, as everyone knows. We have to explain to fa...
We are working on a DIVA test, but, as hon. Members pointed out, it will probably take eight to 1...
Order. We have run out of time.