Oral Answers to Questions

Bridget Phillipson Excerpts

Thursday 25th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

9. What recent assessment he has made of the potential risks of a badger cull.

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

11. What recent assessment he has made of the potential risks of a badger cull.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

12. What recent evidence he has considered on the effects of badger populations on dairy herds.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: it is not just the trauma of the appalling loss—26,000 cattle last year—but every time a herd is tested it is difficult for farmers. Some animals become violent, and the disease, not just the culling, is causing regular stress. It is essential that we go ahead with the culls next summer and prove that they work, so that we bear down on disease in wildlife and in cattle.

[Bridget Phillipson]

If the cull does not go ahead, what is the risk that the Secretary of State will be sued by farmers for the losses they will incur, and what will the chaos cost the taxpayer?

[Mr Paterson]

I have every intention that the culls will go ahead.