We will continue to use all the options available to fight TB - Eustice

We will continue to use all of the options available to us to fight this dreadful disease, which has been out of control for 20 years, Farming Minister George Eustice said during a Parliamentary debate as MPs were debating the second year of the badger culls in Westminster Hall.

Eustice came under fire from Labour MPs who claimed the recent pilot culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset had failed to achieve the minimum number of badgers to be shot and was condemned by many groups as a 'miserable failure.' It prompted the Badger Trust to challenge the legality of the cull.

A cull target of 615 badgers in Gloucestershire and 316 in Somerset was given, but no official indication was given as to how many were killed. Eustice said the government was analysing the data from the recent culls.

The Humane Society International claimed 253 badgers had been killed in Gloucestershire, 362 animals short of the minimum kill target of 615.

In Somerset, shooters only achieved the minimum target of 315 badgers, even though the kill targets were deliberately set to be achievably low. The figures were revealed by a source at Natural England to Team Badger, of which HSI/UK is a key member.

"We have the worst bovine TB situation in the developed world and we cannot let that continue if we want to have competitive, productive and profitable beef and dairy sectors," the Farming Minister said.

“Other countries that have faced similar problems have demonstrated the route to long-term disease freedom and they show us that dealing with the risk posed by wildlife has got to be part of any coherent and comprehensive approach to tackling this disease.”

But opposition MPs claimed Minister were behaving like 'three wise monkey's' in their staunch backing of the cull and were attacked for failing to look at the evidence.

Chris Williamson, MP for Derby North, said there was a 'wealth of scientific opinion' which claimed the culls had largely failed.

"What we have here is a situation where scientific opinion, parliamentary opinion and public opinion is at one and yet the Government is completely disregarding all of those areas of very clear opposition to the Government’s direction of travel on this particular issue," he said.

"Just under 25 per cent of the farming industry is represented by the NFU, yet the Government, or ministers at least, seem to be doing the NFU's bidding, even though it represents only a minority interest in the farming industry."

The Labour Party has said it would halt the badger cull policy if it won the general election. But National Farmers' Union President Peter Kendall said it would be the wrong step as he called MPs to back British farmers with a manifesto for growth at the party conference.

Kendall said: "For beef and dairy farmers dealing with TB on their farms, these badger culls are an essential part in the fight against this terrible disease. Opinion is divided, so, while we recognise that not everyone agrees with the government’s TB eradication policy, and the need to cull badgers to start to reduce this disease in cattle, we do acknowledge their legitimate right to hold peaceful protests. What we cannot condone are the actions being used by extreme activists designed to harass, intimidate and threaten others."

The National Farmers' Union said farmers are losing their livestock to the disease and action needed to be taken.

NFU President Meurig Raymond said: “Bovine TB continues to devastate farming family businesses across large parts of the country and it is essential that we do everything we can to control and eradicate it. Last year more than 32,000 cattle were slaughtered because of this disease and more than 4,700 additional farming families saw their businesses affected by it.

“In areas where the disease is endemic, like the South West, action must be taken to control it in badgers if we are to stop reinfection occurring and have any chance of wiping it out. This has been acknowledged by the Government and is reflected in its 25-year TB eradication strategy.

“Both cull companies have worked closely with Defra and Natural England to ensure that the recommendations made by the Independent Expert Panel to improve the delivery of operations following last year’s culls have been implemented.

“The Chief Vet has said culling over a four-year period in both pilot areas will have an impact on disease control and we remain confident that these pilots will help to deliver a reduction of TB in cattle. It is vital that they are allowed to be successfully completed so they can deliver the maximum benefits.”

It wasn't just Labour MPs who questioned the efficacy of the culls, Conservative MP Tracey Crouch said the science behind it 'didn't stack up'.

But Conservative Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said: "I think that if we can hold our nerve, make sure that we carry out these culls in a humane way, we will reduce the infected badgers in the countryside in those areas where we have the high cases of TB."

"We have seen, anecdotally, a reduction. If we can hold our nerve and ensure that we carry out the culls in a humane way, we will reduce the number of infected badgers in the countryside, in those areas with a high number of TB cases. If we use traps wherever necessary, carry out controlled shooting and ensure that we carry out the cull properly, we will see TB, first, reduce in this country and, eventually, we will eradicate it. If we do not take this action, we will never eradicate the disease. Farmers need to see a good future not only for them, but for their families. Farming is about generations of farmers, generations of cattle and generations of breeding of cattle. That is all being destroyed by this disease, and unless we take this firm action, we will not eradicate the disease."