TB in Cattle and Badgers

I agree that biosecurity needs to be considered, along with measures on trading and high-risk are...

I thank the hon. Lady for bringing forward this debate. I represent a constituency where the cont...

Absolutely. That is a very sensible approach. It is costly, but so is culling badgers, which does...

We have heard the number of badgers that have been culled. What estimate has the hon. Lady made o...

The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has vaccinated 192 badgers this year as part of its five-year progr...

The hon. Lady is being very generous in giving way. She is right that this issue is massively imp...

Absolutely. Although farmers are at the vagaries of many things, we should at least try to set co...

Does the hon. Lady agree that any strategy on bovine TB needs to use all the tools in the toolbox...

I do agree that Governments in all parts of the United Kingdom—particularly in England, Wales and...

I congratulate the hon. Lady on making a well-balanced and sensible speech, taking neither one si...

Absolutely. Any of us who has had a pet put down knows how painful that can be, so a farmer havin...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will have to make some progress, as there are several more speakers to come in. I am sure the h...

Will the hon. Lady give way? I will explain why.

If the hon. Gentleman can make a short point on that.

The smaller herds are beef suckler herds and the larger herds are dairy herds. The cows also live...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point. I have beef suckler herds and dairy herds, and they bo...

Order. Quite a few Members want to speak. The hon. Lady has been good at giving way, but I hope s...

I will do, Mr Wilson.

I have been out with Avon Wildlife Trust, which has an excellent badger vaccination programme. Th...

Absolutely. We would not want that to happen in Derbyshire either.

In 2014, 20% of culls we...

Order. Is the hon. Lady coming to the end of her speech? She has been speaking for 25 minutes, an...

Am I okay to finish by 10 am, within four minutes?

You are eating into the time of other Members—that is what I am saying. If you could come to a co...

Right. This is a much more popular debate than I had envisaged for 9.30 on a Wednesday morning, s...

Order. We need to introduce a four-minute time limit on speeches, and we may have to reduce that ...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wilson, and I congratulate the hon. Member ...

Order.

10.2 am

Farmers in my constituency are experiencing the worst difficulties with bTB in their cattle anywh...

I am grateful to have caught your eye, Mr Wilson, and also to the hon. Member for High Peak (Ruth...

This is not a debate about wildlife lover against farmer; it is about healthy badgers being prote...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wilson. I congratulate the hon. Member for ...

I congratulate the hon. Member for High Peak (Ruth George) on the very balanced way that she made...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Wilson. There have been so many passionate con...

The hon. Lady has, until now, been making a sensible speech. My memory from my upbringing in Scot...

I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman has greater experience of these things, given where he resid...

The cull is not about eradicating the badger. Typically, the population will be reduced to about ...

That is an interesting point. As I understand it, culling badgers actually encourages them, in so...

I am delighted to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wilson. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Mem...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Obviously we are quite short of time, but I will give way to my constituency neighbour.

I am grateful to my constituency neighbour for giving way. He is aware of the latest figures, whi...

Let me come to that later, because I will point out something slightly different.

We have h...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

May I just continue? I will never finish my speech otherwise, and the Minister will need quite a ...

I congratulate the hon. Member for High Peak (Ruth George) on securing this debate and, as severa...

I may have missed something, but I noted from the Library report that was given to us that the An...

I think that was dealt with by my right hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Mr Goo...

What evidence is there for the incidence of the disease in badgers? Will the Minister look to tes...

We have a number of approaches. We do some roadkill surveillance in areas to identify where there...

rose—

I will take a brief intervention and then I will conclude.

I will make a point briefly. Will the Government look at evidence from other countries, particula...

We will look at that evidence, but this is a difficult issue. My right hon. Friend is right that ...

The one thing that has not been mentioned—I should have mentioned it myself, of course—is cattle ...

Yes, we are continuing to do cattle vaccinations; that particular research has not been stopped. ...

I thank all the Members who have contributed to this very constructive debate and I look forward ...