Points of Order

Huw Irranca-Davies Excerpts

Thursday 24th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. At Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs orals earlier today, the shadow Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh), raised serious and valid concerns over the possibility of horsemeat treated with a substance called bute—phenylbutazone, a potentially carcinogenic substance—entering the human food chain. Those concerns have been raised by the Government’s own independent veterinary advisers as well. The Minister seemed unaware of the issue and did not respond to these valid concerns. Could you, through your good offices, in concert with the efforts that we will make, try to ensure that the Minister or the Secretary of State appears here on Monday, or at the very earliest opportunity, to give an oral statement and answer questions on this vital issue of concern to human health?

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his attempted point of order. I know that he would not seek to draw me into a matter of contention, because that would be a wrong thing for him to do, and he would not knowingly do any such thing, I feel sure. What I would say to him is this: first, he has made his point; and secondly, the Leader of the House and the Deputy Leader of the House are present in the Chamber and will have heard his concerns. It is of course up to a Minister to decide whether he or she wishes to volunteer a statement, although the hon. Gentleman, who is an experienced Member of the House and a shadow Minister, will be aware that there are means by which Members can seek to engage Ministers in matters of interest to them and more widely.