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Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire): The Chancellor's statement contained some potentially far-reaching proposals for the integration of the tax and benefits systems. Will he confirm that it is in his mind to introduce any such changes in four months' time, in his Budget? Will he tell us how the Government will carry forward the process of consultation on that potential reform?
A comprehensive integration of tax and benefits is an extremely complicated thing to do. The Chancellor will know that one of the reasons why the interrelationship between the two systems is so often perverse is that past Governments have gone for short-term fixes, with dire long-term consequences.
Mr. Brown:
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who is a renowned expert in these matters, and the Chairman of the Social Security Select Committee. The report and the comments made yesterday about the maze of benefits and the chaos in the tax and benefit system up until now mean that there is a strong case for reform. I can confirm that we are looking at these things.
I told the Committee that we would be prepared to give evidence to it. I hope that the membership of the Committee will join us in examining these issues. We need to find a solution to the poverty and unemployment traps that prevent thousands from benefiting from work. We need to provide a solution that gives as many people as possible who are currently on low pay proper rewards for work.
Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours (Workington):
Is it not true that one of our priorities has been to defuse the inflationary time bomb that we inherited from the Conservative Government--and, indeed, the work of the former Chancellor of the Exchequer? What estimate has my right hon. Friend made of the impact on the British economy if we had not raised interest rates since May?
Mr. Brown:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I see that the former Chancellor has gone from the Chamber. I should remind him that, for six months, he was advised that interest rates had to go up. For six months before the general election, he refused to do so.
When I arrived at the Treasury, it was clear that inflation was going far beyond its target range. It was for those reasons that we took immediate action. We raised
interest rates immediately, and made the Bank of England independent. There have had to be further rises in interest rates. The reason for those rises is that action that should have been taken was not taken by the previous Government.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley (South-West Surrey):
Many will welcome the further expansion in child care facilities, but can the Chancellor confirm that what he has really done is raid the funds that the sports, arts, heritage and charities bodies were confidently expecting? Does his announcement not mark the end of the additionality and arm's-length principles? Should we now refer to the national lottery as the Chancellor's back pocket for pet causes?
Mr. Brown:
I disagree entirely with what the right hon. Lady says about the national lottery. As she perfectly well knows, the mid-week lottery increased the amount of money that the lottery was able to provide for good causes by about £1 billion. [Interruption.] The right hon. Lady should listen, because we put the proposal to the electorate and they supported it at the general election. We said that we would create a new opportunities fund to provide help for fitness centres, out-of-school centres and homework centres that would not otherwise have been provided. That is why it is possible to say that the money is being put to good use.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst):
We must now move on. There will be other opportunities to pursue these matters.
The following Member took and subscribed the Oath:
Mark Oaten Esq., for Winchester
Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley):
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Could you advise the House whether the Secretary of State for Wales has sought permissionto make a statement to the House, following an announcement last night that the new assembly building will now not be sited in City hall? There is also speculation that it will not be sited in Cardiff at all.
One of the main arguments during the referendum debate was that the assembly should be kept within budget. We stated that it would cost £100 million over four years. We were told that that was a gross over-estimate, and that it would cost less than that figure. If the assembly has to move into either temporary accommodation or alternative new-build accommodation, the final cost of the assembly in Wales could be far more than £100 million over four years.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst):
No such request has been made. I can say only that those on the Treasury Bench will perhaps have noted the hon. Member's remarks.
Mr. David Amess (Southend, West):
I beg to move,
Rabies was eradicated from the United Kingdom in 1922 and is fast disappearing from the rest of the European Union. It is often claimed that the controls that have been used for the past 100 years have served us well. However, a critical examination of the facts reveals that the current arrangements for pet quarantine, as stipulated in the Rabies (Control) Order 1974, are outdated, unnecessary and in need of urgent reform.
In the past 25 years, 1.7 million mammals, including 200,000 cats and dogs, have entered the United Kingdom. In 1983 and 1990, two cases of suspected rabies were reported in kennels in the United Kingdom, but in both cases the dogs had been deliberately infected with a live vaccine. Neither had revealed any clinical symptoms. Those facts are in the public domain. The only cases of rabies in Britain in the past 18 years have been carried here by humans.
Those who defend the present system need to answer the following question. If no cases of rabies have been detected in quarantine in the past 25 years, why are we maintaining the present system? They will no doubt argue that there is no sufficient scientific basis for reforming the existing system. Besides, they will point to the fact that the current controls have operated successfully. I believe that those points are contentious, because developments in science in recent years have presented an overwhelming case for change.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed that modern inactivated vaccines are both safe and effective for cats and dogs. According to last year's report by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 72 per cent. of the population believe that the vaccination system would be an acceptable alternative to quarantine. Vaccinations have a duration of one year and need to be renewed annually. Microchips, I am delighted to say, can now be implanted into a cat or dog at an early age. Microchips are now recognised according to world standards.
No argument for change can be considered without reflecting on the risk assessment. Such an assessment has not been undertaken in Britain, although I welcome the decision of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announced this autumn, to establish a panel of experts headed by Professor Ian Kennedy, to look into the matter. I understand that he is the only person to have been appointed to the panel so far. We should examine carefully the assessment made by the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture. It is particularly pertinent. It tells
us that quarantine based on a six-month period of isolation has an 11 per cent. failure rate, whereas a method based on vaccination has only a 6 per cent. failure rate.
In the past 25 years, 170,000 families have put their pets through quarantine. A total of 2,500 pets have died during that period, which represents roughly 10 animals a month, and in the past five years, 735 cats and dogs have died in quarantine. All those animals are loved by their owners and are greatly missed.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that quarantine can cause some animals, especially dogs, to stop eating and to stop drinking. Many die when they come out, having picked up something during the isolation period. Judging by the standard of some kennels, that is hardly surprising, because there is no statutory code covering standards in kennels. There is a voluntary code, under which the Ministry makes quarterly visits and approves kennels' licences, but the emphasis on security is uppermost--certainly not welfare.
I am advised by all the interested parties that conditions in kennels vary considerably. The cost of putting an animal into quarantine varies from £1,500 to £3,000. I believe that my Bill would remedy some of those matters, especially the very high charges.
Other countries have successful rabies-free policies. Forty-eight countries are rabies-free. We should also reflect on the successful change that Sweden made in its quarantine laws three years ago.
On top of all the unnecessary cruelty of the current system, not to mention the inconvenience to pet owners, there is a complete lack of consistency because it applies only to pets, not to animals that have been brought to the United Kingdom for sale. They require only the necessary licences and vaccination certificates, just like pet passports. There are no quarantine requirements for all the cattle moving in and out of this country, which makes no sense as the animals are all warm-blooded and capable of carrying rabies. In effect, the existing system allows traded animals to enter the country and move around freely without being subject to quarantine requirements.
Responsible pet owners ensure that their pets are vaccinated against rabies, but they are still forced to put their pets into quarantine. The regulations affect tens of thousands of British people who work abroad, including diplomats, those in the armed forces, holidaymakers and the blind.
I am obliged to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the pet passport organisation, the Kennel Club and many other organisations for their advice on these matters, and I suppose that I am also inspired by my black labrador puppy, Michael. Eighty-six per cent. of the population would like a change.
I am delighted to see the Home Secretary in his place. I am not challenging the Government's intentions in this matter but, with the best will in the world, it will be a very long time before effective legislation is in place so, as we approach Christmas, I appeal to the Government to reflect on what I have said, and on the views of the former Secretary of State for the Environment, Mr. Chris Patten, and of Lord Waddington. Those former colleagues seem to have changed their minds on the matter, and I was especially moved by the noble Lord, who told the other place that his dog died two days after it was released from quarantine.
I am not necessarily looking for charity in this matter, but I am looking for charity from the Government before Christmas, and I believe that this limited measure would give some relief.
I intend, not to destroy Britain's reputation as a rabies-free country, but to prevent the cruelty, suffering and inconvenience that pets and their loving families experience when they enter the United Kingdom. Pet passports should be introduced into this country. I commend the Bill to the House.
5.3 pm
5.5 pm
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to allow the importation of pet animals from the European Union and rabies-free countries without quarantine upon proof of vaccinations, blood tests and permanent identification by microchip; to improve standards in quarantine kennels; and for connected purposes.
The word "rabies" undoubtedly brings terror into people's minds. It is an awful disease. Each year, between £720,000 and £760,000 is spent on actively encouraging the existing system. It seemed rather bizarre, then, that when I recently visited a number of quarantine kennels I observed owners in the cages with their animals kissing and cuddling them. That seemed to me to defeat the object of quarantine.
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