Bovine TB Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Barwell
Main Page: Lord Barwell (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Barwell's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(13 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)
I realise that many of my hon. Friends who represent farming communities feel strongly about this issue, but I hope they will accept that my constituents are likely to be concerned about what the Secretary of State has announced. The key thing is that policy is determined by scientific evidence, so may I encourage her to publish a plain English version of the evidence that she alluded to in her statement?
Mrs Spelman
I would be happy to do that. My hon. Friend’s constituents might be reassured to know that nine of the scientists—most of them involved in the original randomised badger culling trial—have agreed on one version of the truth and the facts relating to that scientific exercise. They are the facts that I have set out today: with a controlled reduction in the badger population in a confined area it will be possible to reduce significantly the number of TB breakdowns.