Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of bluetongue disease in cattle and sheep in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Since 26 August 2024, there have been 263 cases of BTV detected in Great Britain: 262 BTV-3 cases and 1 BTV-12 case. Of these, 42% were detected because animals showed clinical signs of disease. The remaining positive cases showed no clinical signs, but were detected through surveillance activities (27%), pre and post movement testing (16%) tracings from other positive cases (8%) and private testing (7%).

Clinical impacts of disease have been far less severe than feared, usually involving very small numbers of animals that have tended to recover from what have broadly been short-term effects. Vaccination is the most suitable long-term approach to controlling disease and safe and effective vaccines have been available since October 2024.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many currently used veterinary medicine products will not be available in Northern Ireland following the Windsor Framework proposals taking effect on 31 December.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Continued access to veterinary medicines for Northern Ireland at the end of the grace period remains a Government priority. After extensive stakeholder consultation, the current situation indicates our current estimate is that 10-15% of products are expected to be discontinued. Many of these authorisations are dormant or sold in very low volumes. We do not anticipate significant animal health or welfare issues as a result of these discontinuations. The Government also set out two new schemes, The Veterinary Medicine Internal Market Scheme and the Veterinary Medicine Health Situation Scheme, in its policy paper 'Protecting Animal Health' on 19 June. These two schemes are designed to build resilience and to plug any gaps that arise in the supply or availability of veterinary medicines necessary for animal health and welfare.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks made at the Glastonbury Festival by the bands Kneecap and Bob Vylan; whether they have had discussions about this with (1) the BBC, and (2) the organisers of the Festival; and what steps, if any, they are taking in response.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Secretary of State was clear in her statement in the other place that the Kneecap and Bob Vylan performances at Glastonbury were utterly appalling and unacceptable. This Government will not tolerate antisemitism – it has absolutely no place in our society and we will be unrelenting in our work to root it out and it should not be given a platform.

The BBC has made clear that there were serious failings in relation to events at Glastonbury. It is absolutely right that the BBC has now acknowledged the livestream should have been pulled, that it will no longer broadcast performances deemed “high risk” live, and will provide further editorial guidance around live events going forward.

Given the seriousness of what happened and the impact this has had on the Jewish community in this country, the Secretary of State has spoken to both the BBC Director General and Chair directly and has written to the Chair to ask for an urgent and detailed explanation about what immediate steps they intend to take.

Following conversations between the Secretary of State and members of the Jewish community on concerns about imagery and slogans on display at the festival, DCMS officials have also met with Glastonbury organisers for detailed discussions on their procedures to monitor imagery on site, and the due diligence processes undertaken for festival acts.