---

Hunting

8. Shona McIsaac (Cleethorpes) (Lab): What recent progress has been made in relation to a ban on hunting with dogs. [167010]

The Minister for Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality (Alun Michael): A clear commitment has been given to the House that the issue of hunting with dogs will be dealt with during the life of this Parliament.

Shona McIsaac : As this democratically elected House has expressed its will on the matter on a number of occasions, does my right hon. Friend agree that we can conclude the matter swiftly and that we could deal with all stages of a reintroduced Bill in one sitting day?

Alun Michael: I agree that the views of the House have been made clear. She knows as well as I do how announcements are made about how the future business of the House will be dealt with. I hear what she says. The commitment to which I referred was made at the time of
 
22 Apr 2004 : Column 431
 
the Queen's Speech and reinforced as recently as 7 January. I hope that that gives her sufficient confidence about the way in which we will deal with the issue.

Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold) (Con): In view of what the Minister has just said, could he predict when this Parliament might end?

Alun Michael: I ask the hon. Gentleman to consider how the business of this House is dealt with. I am sure that he has sufficient knowledge to make predictions of his own.

Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): Does the Minister accept that, when he says, "in this Parliament", the next Session of Parliament could be a relatively short one? There are fewer than 20 parliamentary weeks in this Session. For the life of me, I cannot understand why, if a big conversation is launched in the Labour party, and in almost every single discussion the banning of fox hunting in this Session of Parliament rears its head, the matter is not being dealt with. Get on with it. The Prime Minister dealt with the European problem the other day; let us settle this one as well.

Alun Michael: In some of the big conversations in which I have taken part in rural areas, fox hunting has not come up as a major issue. People are concerned about big issues to do with employment, education, jobs and the economy. Nevertheless, this is an important issue that needs to be dealt with. That is why an assurance has been given that it will be dealt with in this Parliament. I assure my hon. Friend that the question of how long remains in this Parliament has been fully considered.

David Winnick (Walsall, North) (Lab): Is my right hon. Friend aware that there would be bitter disappointment among the large majority of Labour Members and the majority of people in the country if, in this Parliament—the second with a strong Labour majority in the House of Commons—there is no ban on this barbaric sport? Is it not time for this Government to have the courage to say to the House of Lords, "We will not accept your veto; the elected Chamber will decide", and to make sure in this Parliament, before the general election, that there is a ban, which I hope the Tories will challenge in the general election?

Alun Michael: I am indeed aware of the passion that this issue raises and the views of my hon. Friend and many colleagues. That is why a commitment has been made that the issue will indeed be dealt with during the life of this Parliament. I suggest that a measured view should be taken of this issue. It needs to be dealt with and people have passionate views about it, and that is why it will be dealt with in the course of this Parliament.

Fishing Licences

9. Mr. David Amess (Southend, West) (Con): How many registered fishing licences have been revoked since 2001; and if she will make a statement. [167011]
 
22 Apr 2004 : Column 432
 

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Ben Bradshaw): None. If for any reason a licence becomes invalid, the holder of the licence will usually retain an entitlement to apply for a further licence, which must be made within three years of the entitlement first arising.

Mr. Amess : I believe that the Minister recognises how important the fishing and cockling industry is to my constituents in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. I think that he also realises that local families feel under increasing pressure in terms of the catch that they can take as a result of changes from Europe. Will he agree to meet a small delegation of those concerned to discuss changes in the licensing and registration of vessels?

Mr. Bradshaw: Yes, I would be happy to receive a delegation. He will be aware that the cockling and shellfish industry in this country is doing extremely well at the moment. Recent figures show that incomes have doubled. As he knows, problems with North sea cod stocks may have affected some of his local fishermen, but I shall be happy to receive a delegation if he wants to bring one.

GM Crops

10. Joan Ruddock (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab): If she will support a European marketing consent for sweetcorn from genetically modified maize line Bt 11. [167014]

The Minister for the Environment (Mr. Elliot Morley): The Government are accepting the advice that there are no reasons not to support the application by Syngenta for approval under the European novel foods regulations for sweetcorn from genetically modified maize line Bt11.

Joan Ruddock : Is my hon. Friend aware that the Belgian Government, the French Government and the Austrian Government have raised serious concerns about the scientific testing of this sweetcorn, which is designed for human consumption, and its safety? How can he support the marketing of this product when it has been tested under outdated and inadequate novel foods regulation, despite the fact that a much more rigorous testing regime has just become law in the EU?

Mr. Morley: I understand that the application complies with the more rigorous rules introduced by the EU, but I will check that point because I have a great deal of respect for my hon. Friend, who takes a great interest in the matter. A number of countries have raised concerns about the maize, but those points do not all concern testing and food safety. The range of issues includes traceability and labelling, and we sympathise with those concerns. The concerns raised by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes were put to the lead authority, and they were answered in full to the committee's satisfaction. The maize has been approved for food use in the EU since 1998 and the Food Standards Agency and the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes believe that their concerns have been answered satisfactorily.

Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk) (Con): Is the Minister aware that various farm-scale trials were
 
22 Apr 2004 : Column 433
 
conducted in my constituency and that the industry's response was mixed? Many organic farmers are dead against GM crops. Does he agree that it is vital to implement a proper compensation scheme to cover possible damage to crops grown by non-GM farmers?

Mr. Morley: That was one of the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission's recommendations and we accept it. We have made it clear that we intend to consult on the shape of a compensation scheme. I understand that a further question has been tabled on that point, which will give an opportunity to go into the matter in more detail.

Bovine TB

11. Mr. George Osborne (Tatton) (Con): When he last met farmers' representatives to discuss the problem of tuberculosis in cattle. [167015]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Ben Bradshaw): Ministers regularly meet farmers and their representatives and bovine TB often features in those discussions. I recently received a delegation of Gloucestershire farmers, as well as visiting a farm affected by TB in my home county, Devon. Farmers have also been represented at each of the regional TB strategy workshops, which we are holding as part of the consultation on the review of the TB strategy.

Mr. Osborne : If the Minister came to Cheshire, he would know that dairy farmers there want the Government to stop dragging their feet and get a grip on the bovine TB problem. Can he predict when a policy will be implemented, and whether it will take Professor Godfray's findings into account?

Mr. Bradshaw: The policy is being reviewed and we will take those findings into account. We are listening, not least to a delegation from Cheshire that advocated a number of extra measures, such as pre-movement and post-movement testing, to prevent the spread of TB to areas that currently have a relatively low level of infection, such as Cheshire. We are consulting on those measures and my officials would be pleased to receive ideas or representations from either the hon. Gentleman or representatives of the farming industry in his constituency.

Mr. James Plaskitt (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab): Last week, I discussed that exact problem with Warwickshire farmers, who are concerned about the risks and the slow progress towards a solution. Is the Minister confident that adequate veterinary resources are in place to deliver pre-movement testing in a timely and cost-effective way?

Mr. Bradshaw: Yes. The level of testing increases all the time. We have overcome the post-foot and mouth backlog and the level of testing is higher than that before foot and mouth.

Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield) (Con): Bovine TB is extremely serious—it is taken very seriously in dairy areas of the United Kingdom—and I fully support
 
22 Apr 2004 : Column 434
 
the views expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr. Osborne). A number of farmers in my constituency are becoming increasingly concerned about when the Government review will be concluded and when the Government will make recommendations for action. Will the Minister state the cost of bovine TB?

Mr. Bradshaw: In the past year, bovine TB cost the taxpayer £74 million. The cost includes not only compensation, which is about half that figure, but the substantial sums that the Government commit to research into vaccines and to the badger culling trials. We recognise that the problem is incredibly serious for the farming industry—the difficulty is that there are no magic wand solutions, as some in this House and the media seem to think.

Mr. Owen Paterson (North Shropshire) (Con): I think that the farmer whom the Minister mentioned is Mr. Tony Yewdall from Devon, who is in despair today as he awaits the results of Monday's tuberculin test. He has lost 48 of his pedigree Guernsey cattle. He effectively runs a closed herd, and has brought in only three animals in the past year. He has experienced a very large increase in his badger population and wrote to the Minister asking for a licence to remove or have badgers removed under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, which was passed by the last Conservative Government to stop the disgusting practice of badger baiting. The Minister kindly replied to him, saying that he would not issue licences

"except in truly exceptional circumstances"—

Mr. Speaker: Order. I will not allow such a long supplementary. It is unfair to the House—there are other Members. Let the Minister try to answer.

Mr. Bradshaw: I did indeed spend about half a day with Mr. Yewdall and his family and we examined every possible way of avoiding culling his cattle before they calved. I recognised that it was a very distressing experience for him. I have to say, however, that the very strong, unanimous veterinary advice that I received said that it would set a dangerous precedent to make an exception in this case and that it would make further infection on his farm and on neighbouring farms worse.

If the hon. Gentleman has changed Conservative party policy, as he has been quoted in some of the media as having done, so that the Conservative party would now license individual farmers to cull badgers, he should come clean and say so.

---