Badger Culls (Assessment)

That may be true, but on badger culls scientific, parliamentary and public opinion are at one, ye...

rose—

rose—

I will give way in a moment. According to a document published by the Department for Environment,...

I was under the illusion that I was in the Chamber to debate the badger cull, not the National Fa...

If the hon. Gentleman will bear with me, I will come on to that and explain why I am referring to...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this important debate. Does he agree that one of the most...

The hon. Lady is absolutely right about that point, and I will be coming on to it.

As a con...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. No one should be in any doubt that farming ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct in his summary of the position. Of course bovine TB is a dre...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. Is he aware that the BBC is ...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that intervention. It is important that there is independent a...

I am following closely what the hon. Gentleman is saying. On the subject of assessment, is his co...

I do not think the cull should have started in the first place, because of the wealth of scientif...

It is a delight to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Caton. I congratulate the hon. Member for De...

I apologise for having come to the Chamber very recently, Mr Caton; I have been chairing a commit...

I hope that I am correct in interpreting what the hon. Gentleman says as meaning that if the Secr...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I certainly shall give way to the branch of the NFU that is my hon. Friend.

I am most grateful for that tremendous compliment. I suspect that if the NFU had its way, the sch...

I absolutely condemn anyone who sabotages experiments, and I condemn anyone who puts any of our a...

I went down to Somerset recently to meet some of the people monitoring the culls. They are there ...

I thank the hon. Lady for her comments. Other hon. Members want to speak, so I will not labour th...

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Order. At least six Members are on my list as wishing to speak. I want to start the wind-ups at 3...

I thank the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) for securing this important debate. I ...

I draw hon. Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman once only.

Will the hon. Gentleman comment on the Government’s decision to disband the independent expert pa...

The Government have said that that they will fully audit the results. When they are fully audited...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will give way to my hon. Friend once.

My neighbour and hon. Friend and I share a concern for Gloucestershire farmers, and I am sure we ...

That is speculation, but even if it proves to be true, we will need to have a debate over what th...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that during the course of the randomised badger culling trial ther...

I have great respect for the hon. Lady, but I think she is drawing a false analogy, because the n...

In my view, there is no point in going ahead with a policy that has been shown not to work, as is...

With great respect to the hon. Lady, it is too early to say. If she will not begin to take some o...

Of course I agree with eradicating TB, but I do not see how one does that by pursuing a policy th...

Well, that is the hon. Lady’s prejudiced view. She does not know yet whether it will work, becaus...

The hon. Gentleman draws our attention to the public cost of this illness, but the cull that is n...

I am extremely grateful for that intervention. The hon. Gentleman must have been reading my notes...

The reality is that the Labour Government in Wales fully recognise that they cannot measure the i...

I had better make some rapid progress, Mr Caton, or else you will call me to order for not making...

I am delighted to contribute to this debate, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Derby North (...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) on securing the debate. However...

I am enjoying my hon. Friend’s speech very much. Does she agree that if the first year had failed...

Three tests were set out for the first pilot culls: humaneness, effectiveness and cost. As we kno...

I am listening carefully to my hon. Friend, but I am bound to point out that, in some countries w...

We keep on hearing about the New Zealand experiment, but it had other aspects, such as improved m...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I will not, because other people want to speak.

One conc...

I declare an interest as a member of the National Farmers Union, the Farmers Union of Wales, and ...

It is great to follow the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams). I concur with ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me on this point? Certainly in my part of Somerset, a number o...

Yes. The hon. Lady raises a point that my hon. Friend the Minister might well like to deal with. ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No. You want me to finish by 20 to 4, Mr Caton, so I will keep going.

We have seen, anecdot...

I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) on securin...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No. We hear, and we have heard today, that the last Labour Government did nothing to address the ...

If there was a methodology improvement that enabled the contractors to hit that target of 70%, wo...

I would support a policy that worked. The evidence demonstrates that a cull has to take 70% of th...

I welcome the opportunity to respond to today’s debate and thank all hon. Members for their contr...

What progress has the Minister made with farmers on trying to find ways to improve biosecurity so...

We are making progress. In fact, we have been talking to an accreditation organisation about whet...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not give way, because I want to get through as many other points as I can. My hon. Friend ...