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Mr. Michael Jack (Fylde): I thank the Minister for giving me a copy of his statement in adequate time, so that I could read it before he put it before the House. I appreciate his courtesy.
The official Opposition support any moves that help to make British beef safer--indeed, to make it the best beef in the world. However, does the Minister recognise that his statement today will be of great concern to the quality butchery trade, which has done so much to rehabilitate the prospects for British beef after the most serious crisis the beef industry has ever known? Does the Minister further recognise that farmers who raise long-maturing animals will be extremely worried by his comments? I should be grateful if the Minister, in the course of his consultations, fully took into account the views from those two important parts of the meat business before casting the measures absolutely in stone.
At the conclusion of his statement, the Minister mentioned that there had been a leak. That has perhaps forced him to come to the House this afternoon to make a statement. Will he confirm that, in the light of the information that he received from SEAC, he was minded to make a statement to the House tomorrow rather than today? May I register my annoyance that it was from journalists this morning that I first learnt that a statement was to be made to the House? As soon as I learnt that, I found statements on the matter appearing on Ceefax, from the middle of the morning onwards. Only later did I officially learn from the Ministry that it was to make a statement. Would the Minister like to give us a timetable of the thinking that lay behind the approach to his statement today? Will he tell us when he received SEAC's conclusions and the written report? Will he also tell us when he discussed the matter with the chief medical officer?
Can the Minister tell us whether he has launched an investigation into how the journalist Mr. James Erlichman was able to release on to an unsuspecting world information about the statement in the rather aptly named BBC television consumer programme, "The Really Useful Show"? Will the Minister hold an inquiry into the leak? It is
a pity that he is not taking those important matters seriously, because he will know that once SEAC has come to a conclusion, there is always potential for a leak, and it is incumbent on Ministers to come to the House and present their findings without delay.
Will the Minister also enlighten us on the role that the Prime Minister played in the decision-making process in the Government, in regard to the making of the statement today? Does the Minister agree that the leaking of information is damaging to confidence in British beef?
In the light of the Minister's statement, will he now argue that the materials in question--the subject of his statement--should be added to the list of European specified risk materials? Will he confirm that they are currently not on that list? Will he further confirm that their addition to the list would be important in conferring on British citizens who travel abroad and eat beef the same protection that they can expect to receive in this country? Can he tell us how, in terms of third-country imports, he will police adherence to the ban? Does he agree that his announcement might be a further setback to the chances of getting the beef ban lifted?
The Minister has been long on rhetoric but short on delivering results on the beef ban. In the light of the fact that he has come to the House in haste, will he go to Brussels to explain to our European partners exactly what this is all about?
What costs does the Minister expect the meat and butchery industry to incur as a result of the statement? If, as he has said, his announcement will help to improve the safety of British beef, is not it ironic that he makes his statement at a time when he is tearing the guts out of the British beef industry? He is taking away £60 million in hill livestock compensatory allowances. He is overcharging the beef industry on cattle passports. He is levying the industry on the new meat inspection charges. His Government's monetary policy is making the cost of farmers' borrowings, which are rising, increase.
In short, the statement shows that the Minister is out of touch with farming and could not care less about the beef industry.
Dr. Cunningham:
The right hon. Gentleman began by saying that he would support any moves to protect consumers, and then went into a long ramble about why he thought I was making this statement today. I had every intention of making a statement on the SEAC report. I said within days of my appointment that I would publish SEAC advice as quickly as possible after receiving it, and make statements. I have kept that promise to consumers and the country as a whole today. It was always our intention that a statement should be made. He asked what role the Prime Minister had played. The Prime Minister played the role that any normal Prime Minister would: he agreed that I should make a statement to the House, and that was that.
As for the serious part of the right hon. Gentleman's questions, as opposed to all the nonsense about the leak in the media, of course I understand that farmers are worried, as are consumers. I am also concerned, but is the right hon. Gentleman suggesting that we should have suppressed this information, and that we should have refused to act on SEAC's advice and kept the matter quiet? Is that what he would have preferred? If that is the implication of his shenanigans about how the information
has been disclosed, I know on which side of the argument I stand. I am fully in favour of being candid with consumers about the nature of the risks that they face. I emphasise that, notwithstanding the fact that the risk is very small, we should not take the risk of infected BSE material being allowed into the food chain. That is the basis on which we have taken this action.
There was never any intention to make this statement tomorrow. I do not know where the right hon. Gentleman got such twaddle from, but it is simply not true.
I have informed our partners in Brussels of this statement to the House and the reasons why I am taking this action. My officials are in constant touch with them about the actions that we are taking on BSE.
The right hon. Gentleman asked me about consumer confidence in the beef industry. It is precisely because we have acted promptly and fully on SEAC advice, and because we have imposed the most rigorous standards on our beef, that I am able to say with confidence that beef is safe. That is also the basis on which I am able to say in Brussels and in the Council of Ministers that we have a good case for a progressive lifting of the ban. If I were not to act in that way, it would undermine our ability eventually to get the ban lifted.
Jacqui Smith (Redditch):
I welcome the speed with which the Government have acted today in response to the SEAC evidence. However, that evidence will be greeted with concern in my constituency, especially by the family and friends of Mike Clifford, who sadly died of new-variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in June 1996. In the light of the tragedy of new-variant CJD and today's statement, is it not important for the Government to announce soon a full inquiry into the previous Government's handling of BSE and the links with new-variant CJD?
Dr. Cunningham:
I well understand the concern expressed by my hon. Friend on behalf of her constituents and others. I know at first hand of the concern of parents who have lost loved ones through new-variant CJD, because I have met some of them. One of the young women who died was a close friend of my son and had studied with him at university. I am well aware of the dreadful circumstances for those families, and I understand the pressure for a full inquiry into all aspects of the matter. I am having urgent and continuing discussions with my right hon. Friends, but I am sorry that I cannot make an announcement about a decision today. Obviously, I would have done so if I could.
As a consequence of the previous Government's mishandling of these issues, the British taxpayer provides about £1 billion to support our beef industry. That is the price we are paying for the consequences of the BSE crisis, in addition to the appalling consequences for the health and well-being of young people.
Mr. Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Inverness, West):
Given the seriousness of the Minister's statement, does he acknowledge that, although he describes this development as a further disappointment for the beef sector, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is another desperate blow to the morale of that sector? It may have the practical impact of sending several specialist producers to the wall as a result of the changes that will, alas, have to be implemented.
While acknowledging the importance to importation of a level playing field throughout the single market, will the Minister consider a far more important time scale than the one to which the right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack) referred when he spoke such fatuous nonsense? Will the Minister deal not with the time scale of events over a few hours this morning, but with the time scale of events in the months ahead that will affect our vital domestic beef sector?
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