Bovine TB

Debate between Adrian Sanders and Owen Paterson

Thursday 3rd April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend makes two very pertinent comments. We wish the regime in Wales well, but it simply is not credible to attribute this reduction to the brief period of vaccination in 1.5% of the land area.

[Mr Adrian Sanders (Torbay) (LD)]

The IEP report said that the cull trial was ineffective, that it did not reach its target and that it was inhumane. What would the Secretary of State’s definition of failure be?

[Mr Paterson]

That is a pessimistic interpretation of the IEP report. We are perfectly aware of the difficulty of achieving the numbers in the cull last year, but it was the first year. I remind the hon. Gentleman again that in the RBCT three areas achieved figures of 32%, 37% and 39%. They also got off to a slow start, but in later years they contributed to disease reduction. He wants a definition of success—it is reducing TB, and getting healthy cattle and healthy badgers.

Flooding

Debate between Adrian Sanders and Owen Paterson

Monday 26th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I was in his city on Friday evening at a dinner for one of his parliamentary neighbours and discussed the issue with people who may have been constituents of his. He is right that we have to work through this negotiation and get a good deal on insurance that is satisfactory to all parties.

[Mr Adrian Sanders (Torbay) (LD)]

In addition to those that the Secretary of State has already praised, will he mention South West Water, the transport companies, which have done a great job today, and, crucially, the local media? Will he also address the public concerns in Devon about the resilience of our infrastructure, particularly Cowley bridge, which controls rail in and out of the county to Paddington, the Clennon valley pumping station in my constituency, which deals with most of the sewerage in Torbay, and roads throughout Devon that were cut off from the rest of Devon at some point over the weekend?

[Mr Paterson]

I went to Cowley bridge to look at the damage to the railway line and I am pleased to say that it will be mended by tomorrow, which will be a triumph for those involved, because I was told that something like 200 tonnes of aggregate had shifted. The hon. Gentleman is right to raise a number of detailed issues, and they will have to be worked through by local councils and agencies. I was impressed by the resilience of all those affected by events in recent days and I have every confidence that they will see their way through this situation.