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Mr. Malcolm Bruce (Gordon): Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it would be helpful if the Minister responded to that point? As the hon. Gentleman said, the Minister of Agriculture has said that we are holding back for the time being, but implied that the Government are invoking scientific justification for doing so. It was agreed at Florence that detailed proposals would be made by the British Government, so, if no proposals are put forward, the Government are in breach of the agreement.
Mr. McGrady: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, and I agree with him. As I recall the
sequence of events, the Florence convention was suspended--if that is the right word--because of what was alleged to be new veterinary scientific information. That information was apparently the decision by some--I emphasise, some--veterinary scientists that BSE was not necessarily caused by maternal transmission, but that the source was a possible predilection in the progeny of an infected cow. Consequently, the Government decided that BSE would somehow magically run itself out by the year 2003.
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that the Government have pulled back from the commitment given at Florence. That has had a further effect. It has undermined the good will that existed in the Commission, in Fischler, Yates and the other Agriculture Ministers. It was a regrettable step, and a devastating one for Northern Ireland. The Government seem reluctant to implement the Florence agreement to secure the immediate lifting, wholly or partly, of the ban on Northern Ireland beef.
In the meantime, there is a possibility of movement through consultation with the European Commission on proposals for relaxing the export restriction for animals from certified herds which have had no contact with BSE. I point out to the House that 97 per cent. of herds in Northern Ireland could qualify for the UK certified herd scheme. It is hoped that such a scheme could equate to the well-established farm quality assurance scheme.
I note that the chief veterinary officer for Northern Ireland is to meet tomorrow in Brussels his counterparts in the European Union Standing Veterinary Committee. I note that he will seek assurances that "going it alone" with the slaughter could open the way for the certified herd scheme. I sincerely hope that he will be successful, and that he will receive unanimous and strong support from the Government in his endeavours in that respect.
In Northern Ireland, as in the United Kingdom generally, any herd that has had a BSE-infected animal has been flagged by the Department of Agriculture. There is a major problem here, in that, in the United Kingdom, and only in the United Kingdom, it is the farm and not the herd or the animals that is flagged; in the rest of Europe, it is the herd that is flagged. Therefore, even if all the cattle on the flagged farm are removed and slaughtered, and new stock is brought in, flagging remains a total impediment. Surely we must all agree that that absurdity must be ended.
I understand that our flagging system happened by accident, and that the relevant wording in the legislation was not caught on to at the time. As I understand it, the European Commission is willing to address the erratum at an early date if effort is put into the matter.
In reality, while flagging applies to the farms, there is no realistic market for animals from flagged herds, which is disastrous for farmers in that category. Those most affected are the small suckler herd farmers, some dairy farmers, and farmers with a high-quality output. There must be a buy-out scheme for the suckler herds--about 300 in number--leading to the removal of flagging of holdings rather than herds, so that farmers can begin to rebuild their herds and their livelihoods. At present, their livestock will not be dealt with.
The 3 per cent. affected are made up of a number of elements. The suckler herds are only 0.75 per cent. of the 3 per cent. total. They are a small fraction, and could be dealt with if the Government could devise a scheme to
allow herds to be depopulated, farm buildings to be cleaned out and farms to be restocked with non-BSE-infected cattle. Farmers could thus, we hope, gain certified herd status. Such schemes exist in the Republic of Ireland and other EC countries, so why can they not exist in the United Kingdom?
Is there not now an opportunity in this very small sector to introduce a beef herd set-aside scheme, similar to other agriculture set-aside schemes, starting with the BSE-flagged beef herds in Northern Ireland? I should like the Minister to take that point on board as a means of getting round an impossible situation for the 3 per cent. that are not covered by the certified herds scheme.
Another element creeps into the equation. There is an enormous backlog of cattle on farms waiting to go through the cull system. Many of them are dairy cows which are still being milked, and milk production is running way ahead of what it would normally be. It is clear that dairy farmers in the UK will be severely punished for producing over quota this year, which could trigger yet another penalty in the super-levy.
I suggest to the Government that the best way in which to deal with that problem is to plead exceptional circumstances, and either to negotiate extra milk quotas for this year in recognition of the dimension of the crisis or, if that is unsuccessful, at least to negotiate a substantial reduction in the super-levy.
I have covered a number of points on the issue, which, as I said at the start, is an absolute disaster for farmers in Northern Ireland. I will sum up the main points for the Minister's quick reference, in the hope that he will respond to them positively and helpfully. First, I would like him to address the point about the provision of additional cold storage and freezer capacity. Secondly, there is a need to provide extra rendering capacity either in Northern Ireland or elsewhere.
Thirdly, the compensation price must be improved; I have already mentioned the details. Fourthly, the Government should address the issue of matching EU funding to enable a substantial increase in the beef special premium and the suckler cow premium. Fifthly, HLCA payments should be increased substantially as a result of the autumn review to help the suckler cow farmers through the present crisis. In addition, there should be a compensatory payment for calves sold this autumn.
Sixthly, there must be a guarantee of continuing beef intervention, with all future Northern Ireland tenders being awarded, full and fixed prices being established for all grades, and no weight conditions. I hope that the provisions of an accelerated slaughter scheme will go ahead as soon as agreement is reached on compensation levels.
I ask that the flagging of holdings should stop, and that flagging should be applied to herds only. A buy-out scheme for flagged suckler herds should be introduced. I mention again the problem of extra milk, the quota and the super-levy, and how that problem could be addressed. Finally, the earliest possible removal of the ban on Northern Ireland beef exports is vital.
Last March, the British Government pledged themselves to do everything possible to safeguard the beef industry. It is now important that the Government display that commitment by an immediate action programme in some--I hope all--of the areas that I have indicated.
There has been throughout Europe a total acceptance of Northern Ireland's low level of BSE and of our much better traceability system. Such acceptance must be backed and strongly supported with an action plan that is capable of immediate implementation. Farmers demand and deserve that immediate action, and they look to the Government to provide it. Perhaps there will be some indication that the Government will take such action when the Minister winds up this debate.
In my opening remarks, I referred to the great famine in Ireland 150 years ago, and said that the BSE crisis is the greatest disaster to hit the farming community in Northern Ireland since then. At the time of the famine, Britain was accused of standing by and doing nothing. I hope that history will not repeat itself.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Morris):
Order. It is clear that four Back-Bench Members wish to contribute to the debate. We have 50 minutes left, which includes the time for the winding-up speeches. I make an appeal for short, succinct speeches.
Mr. Michael J. Martin (Glasgow, Springburn):
I am grateful to the hon. Member for South Down (Mr. McGrady) for initiating the debate. He reminded us several times of the famine in Ireland 150 years ago. Had it not been for that famine, I might have been a resident of County Cavan instead of living in the west of Scotland, where there is a large Irish community. Names such as Murphy and O'Neil suggest that the famine, which caused terrible hardship in Ireland, brought people to Scotland to seek a livelihood.
The Glasgow meat market is in my constituency, and I should stress that, with all due respect to the farmers, they are not the only people affected by the BSE crisis. I am not trying to underestimate their problems, but people living in the cities also face difficulties.
I understand that 5,000 head of cattle per week are being slaughtered in Scottish abattoirs. Those cattle do not have BSE; they are perfectly healthy animals that happen to be more than 30 months old. I should put it on record that, like Northern Ireland, Scotland has not been affected by BSE.
Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Mr. Alec Henderson, who has a farm on the outskirts of Glasgow. He told me that butchers throughout the west of Scotland can put notes in their windows stating that their meat has been supplied by Mr. Alec Henderson, and that is sufficient assurance that it is BSE-free. I hope that the Minister recognises that many farms in Scotland are BSE-free because the farmers feed their cattle with produce that is grown on the farms. They do not use artificial feeds.
It has been estimated that, of the 5,000 head of cattle that are being slaughtered each week, 1,000 are destroyed in the Glasgow meat market. The Scottish Office has taken the same approach whenever there is a crisis--it has passed on the problem to someone else. In this case, a so-called liaison committee has been created in Scotland, and Ministers have allowed it to rule the roost.
It is clear that some people will make a fantastic amount of money out of the crisis. One does not need to be a mathematician to work out that, if 1,000 head of
cattle pass through one meat market every week, and, having been destroyed, their skins are sold to the leather tanneries, some people will make large sums of money. Yet, at the other end of the scale, farmers and wholesale butchers will lose.
If 30-month-old cattle have to be destroyed in the meat market, the wholesale butchers who have operated in the Glasgow meat market for more than 100 years will not be allowed to slaughter the meat they sell there. That will have the ludicrous result that wholesale butchers who operate in the Glasgow meat market will have to go elsewhere to slaughter the cattle that are normally killed in the market.
10.8 am
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