Agriculture: Animal Feed

Lord Whitty Excerpts
Thursday 8th September 2011

(12 years, 8 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Henley Portrait Lord Henley
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My noble friend is right to point to further consequences of feeding animals in this way, in terms of producing the amount of soya used. Again, I stress to her, we should not make any changes unless the scientific evidence assures us that that is right and proper.

Lord Whitty Portrait Lord Whitty
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My Lords, would the Minister accept that the Government and the European authorities are right to proceed with caution on this front? I speak both as the Minister who was allegedly in charge during the last stages of food and mouth and as a former consumer champion. The noble Lord, Lord May, has spoken about BSE and we still do not know how the foot and mouth virus entered the chain. While some relaxation may be possible, I advise extreme caution.

Lord Henley Portrait Lord Henley
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My Lords, I am sure that the noble Lord was totally in charge, and not just allegedly. As he puts it, we will proceed only if the scientific evidence is right and proper.