Oral Answers to Questions

Paula Sherriff Excerpts

Thursday 26th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have similar sentences, and it is also the case that similar sentences apply in other Commonwealth jurisdictions, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It is a sign of our capacity to learn from other nations, both within and outside the European Union, about what a genuinely progressive approach to animal welfare might be.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

5. How many culled badgers have been found to be infected with tuberculosis since new cull licences were issued in September 2017.

[The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (George Eustice)]

We do not carry out post-mortem examinations on every badger removed in cull operations. However, we know from previous research that the prevalence rate of the disease in badgers in the high-risk area is typically around 30%. However, we do want to monitor trends as the cull is implemented, so a small sample of badgers is being collected and tested this year to explore different testing protocols that could be deployed to track the prevalence of TB in badgers culled in future years.

[Paula Sherriff]

I thank the Minister for his response, but will he tell us what has provided the scientific basis for the wider roll-out of the cull?

[George Eustice]

The basis for the roll-out of the cull was the randomised badger culling trials carried out under the previous Labour Government. Those trials showed that there would be a reduction in the disease through a badger cull. Indeed, research carried out earlier this summer by Christl Donnelly has confirmed that there is a 58% reduction in the disease in cattle in Gloucester and a 21% reduction in Somerset. That is within the range we would expect, based on the RBCTs.