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Bovine TB: Parliament backs plans for trial badger culls | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
MPs have rejected Labour calls for trial badger culls to be abandoned. | |
The government says the spread of tuberculosis, known to be carried by badgers, in cattle has cost farmers and the wider economy more than £500m. | |
In a Commons debate, supporters of a cull said farmers were at "their wits' end" but critics questioned its effectiveness and urged alternatives. | |
Calls to drop pilots in Gloucestershire and Somerset over the summer were rejected by 299 votes to 250. | |
Cattle infected by TB have to be slaughtered and 28,000 were destroyed last year. | |
The government says scientific tests have demonstrated the link between infection in badgers and in cattle and that culling significantly reduces incidences of TB. | |
Ministers say they will examine the results of the six-week pilots before deciding what further action to take. | |
Under its plans, badgers will be shot in the open without first being trapped in cages, which is current practice. | Under its plans, badgers will be shot in the open without first being trapped in cages, which is current practice. |
Animal rights activists say they will take direct action to stop more than 5,000 animals being shot. They argue that vaccinating badgers would be more humane and a more effective way to stop bovine TB spreading. | |
Speaking in the debate, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative MP for The Cotswolds, said badgers could become "vicious" when caged and seeking to vaccinate a large number of animals in TB hotspots was "simply a non-starter". | |
And his Conservative colleague Neil Parish, who represents Tiverton and Honiton, said farmers in his Devon constituency were "at their wits' end" over the issue and the government had a duty to act. | And his Conservative colleague Neil Parish, who represents Tiverton and Honiton, said farmers in his Devon constituency were "at their wits' end" over the issue and the government had a duty to act. |
'Dying in agony' | |
But Labour's Chris Williamson, MP for Derby North, said there was no scientific evidence to suggest a cull would have the desired effects. In contrast, it would result in animals "dying in agony" and "enraging" public opinion. | But Labour's Chris Williamson, MP for Derby North, said there was no scientific evidence to suggest a cull would have the desired effects. In contrast, it would result in animals "dying in agony" and "enraging" public opinion. |
"It is absolutely bonkers. It is criminal and it should stop," he told MPs. | "It is absolutely bonkers. It is criminal and it should stop," he told MPs. |
Lib Dem MP Andrew George has suggested ministers are willing to back a vaccination trial in west Cornwall, which could cost about £2m. The St Ives MP said this would be cheaper than having to police demonstrations against badger culls and that animal welfare organisations could contribute to the cost of the experiment. | |
The RSPCA, which has co-ordinated opposition to the cull, has indicated it would be prepared to do so. | The RSPCA, which has co-ordinated opposition to the cull, has indicated it would be prepared to do so. |
"We care equally about badgers and cattle but this cull simply will not work," the campaign group said. | |
And Philip Mansbridge, head of charity Care for the Wild, accused the government of "offering farmers false hope": "Common sense shows that culling is simply a no-win solution - killing will go on and on, and barely a dent will be made in this devastating disease." | |
But in a report published on Wednesday, the cross-party Commons committee said the government should use "every tool" to combat the disease. It said vaccination alone would not provide a solution. | |
The committee's chairman, Conservative MP Anne McIntosh, said vaccines "have no impact on already infected animals" and "would be expensive to deploy" | |
The committee said the government would have spent £14m on vaccine research alone between 2010 and 2014. | |
It said an "oral, baited vaccine" for badgers would be "cheaper and potentially more practical" than trying to inject the animals but such a vaccine was some way off. |