Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – in the House of Commons am 10:30 am ar 21 Mai 2009.
Hilary Benn
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
10:30,
21 Mai 2009
Each country has taken a different approach, but if the hon. Lady is raising the issue of culling, I noted with interest the recent remarks of the Opposition spokesperson on this subject. I was slightly disappointed that what he put out made no reference at all to the 10-year study that involved culling 11,000 badgers and the conclusions of the independent scientific group report. If we are going to deal with this problem, as we are all determined to do, we must have regard to the evidence about what works and what does not work. What we are seeking to do, in particular by developing vaccines, is to find an effective method of dealing with the problem. As the independent scientific group study in the UK reported—the study was carried out over 10 years—culling has been shown not to meaningfully contribute to the control of bovine TB.
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