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Managed Access to the Countryside
8. Mr. Butler: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps the Government have taken to promote managed access to the countryside. [21609]
Mr. Boswell: The Ministry offers a range of incentives to encourage farmers to provide increased public access.
Mr. Butler: Does my hon. Friend accept that farmers in my constituency and elsewhere welcome managed access to the countryside? What they do not welcome, however, is the hysterical approach of the right to rampage being put forward by the Labour party, which would be a licence for criminals, burglars and people who want to commit damage to go into the countryside without let or hindrance. Does my hon. Friend recall that the previous Labour policy on this subject, in 1990, was launched under the title "Out in the Country"? Does he think that this policy could more accurately be described as out to lunch?
Mr. Boswell: I have considerable sympathy with the points made by my hon. Friend. There has been wise advice on the subject from some of the Opposition's noble Friends in another place--including Baroness Mallalieu, who explained that a law would be unenforceable without the consent of farmers and landowners. As my hon. Friend implied, the policy would also impose very severe insurance, administrative and general hassle costs for the farming community. It could not proceed without consent, it is entirely the wrong way round and we will have no part of it.
Mr. Foulkes: I am surprised that the hon. Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Mr. Butler) did not blame my hon. Friend the Member for Peckham (Ms Harman) for pillaging the countryside. Has the Minister seen the representations made by the Ramblers Association following the decision announced yesterday--
Mr. Jacques Arnold: She has done enough damage already.
Mr. Foulkes: I know that the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Arnold) is suffering from mad cow disease.
After yesterday's decision by the Secretary of State for Scotland on the Forestry Commission's holdings, the Ramblers Association made representations to the effect that such a policy will discourage access to the forest and is, in fact, privatisation by the back door.
Will the Minister talk to his right hon. Friend and ask him to rethink his plans for the forestry?
Mr. Boswell:
We would be happy to shift our attack from the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman), who has perhaps already taken sufficient punishment, to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes). I will, of course, be delighted at any time to speak to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for
9. Mr. Bellingham:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action his Department has taken to promote regional speciality food. [21610]
Mrs. Browning:
In the past few months, two regional speciality food and drink groups have been set up with the help of Government financial assistance. Those groups have joined three other regional and several smaller groups to raise the profile of this important sector of the food industry.
Mr. Bellingham:
Is the Minister aware that, although Norfolk is predominantly an arable county, one particular regional speciality is its excellent beef? Is she aware that Norfolk farmers are concerned because they do not want their beef businesses destroyed by a combination of press hysteria and Opposition Members who are more concerned about scoring political points than about helping those businesses? How long does it take for a post-mortem BSE test to be carried out on a slaughtered bullock or cow?
Mrs. Browning:
My hon. Friend rightly draws attention to the many beef herds around the country that fall into the speciality category and are of particularly high quality. I know that Norfolk has its share of such herds.
As for how long it takes to check a slide from the brain of a cow infected with BSE, that is not a process that can be conducted at the abattoir--the point that my hon. Friend may have had in mind. The brain has to be subject to the normal process--which takes considerable time--of being put on wax, after which a thin slide is taken for examination specifically under the microscope. I can assure my hon. Friend, however, that brains are subject to such examination. My hon. Friend may believe that that test can be conducted at the slaughterhouse, but I am afraid that the methods available to us at the moment prevent an immediate test being conducted quickly.
Mr. John D. Taylor:
As the most important regional speciality food in Northern Ireland is obviously Ulster beef, both in terms of the employment that it provides and the value that it adds to the economy of Northern Ireland, and given the damage done to the Ulster beef industry by decisions taken in Europe, will the Minister not forget that there are other important export markets for Ulster beef outside Europe? As a matter of urgency, will she spearhead a new export drive in those other countries to promote Ulster beef?
Mrs. Browning:
The right hon. Gentleman rightly draws attention to the importance of Ulster beef. Although countries outside the European Community have been caught by the worldwide recommendation, the right hon.
Mr. David Porter:
Does my hon. Friend appreciate that another regional speciality food is North sea cod, plaice and sole? Because of the workings of the common fisheries policy, however, there is a great danger that we shall soon not be able to catch any of those off England. Will she take that message to the IGC when she considers the reform of the common fisheries policies?
Mrs. Browning:
My hon. Friend the Minister of State has outlined to the House the work that he is doing with the industry to ensure that we get a sensible common fisheries policy, which affects his constituents and many other people around the country.
Mr. Morley:
Does the Minister agree that many regional beef herds--such as Ulster beef, Scottish beef and herds from other areas--are high-quality herds with no history of BSE? Will she support some of the quality-assured schemes run by producers, and give support to those regional beef herds? Will she give some thought to the slaughter and food-processing industries where many thousands of jobs are now at risk because of the way in which the Government have handled the issue, and for no other reason?
Mrs. Browning:
When the hon. Gentleman started his question, I thought that he was going to say something of profound interest to the industry and was going to recognise the difficulties that it faces. I certainly agree that some herds, kept by specialist producers, are free of BSE. Those herds are very often raised on grass, and are not subject to the cattle feed problems that we are talking about. I can assure him that I am aware of his point and will do my best to take it into account. How disappointing it is that yet another Labour agriculture spokesman, pretending to seek a justifiable solution for a matter of grave importance throughout the country, cannot resist the temptation to add his fivepen'orth of party politicking. It is a disgrace.
Mr. Key:
Will my hon. Friend take another look at the future of Bath chaps, which are under sentence of death this week? Will she go back to SEAC and ask whether it really meant the masseter and temporal muscles to be classified as specified offal, because that will bring to an end a large industry and could result in up to 40 works closing?
Mrs. Browning:
I am well aware of my hon. Friend's concern for the industry in his constituency that is producing Bath chaps. The recommendation from SEAC last week was very clear, and I am sorry that I cannot give him any comforting words. SEAC has recommended that the head should be removed, and that the part of the head that may be used in the food chain is the tongue. The part of the head to which my hon. Friend referred has
10. Mr. Mullin:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent discussions he has had with his EC colleagues regarding the welfare of farm animals; and if he will make a statement. [21612]
Mrs. Browning:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. and learned Friend gave a few moments ago to the hon. Member for Romford (Sir M. Neubert).
Mr. Mullin:
Is the Minister aware that many people of all political persuasions will welcome the collapse in the odious trade in live exports that has resulted from the present crisis? Is she further aware that many of us gave up eating meat some years ago--not for health reasons, but because we were unable to justify the appalling cruelty that factory farmers inflicted upon farm animals? She can restore the confidence of many of us only by persuading the EC to amend the treaty so that live animals can be treated as sentient beings and not as agricultural products.
Mrs. Browning:
My right hon. and learned Friend explained to the House today that the addition of a protocol would create a legally binding obligation, whereas amending the treaty itself would not necessarily meet the objective. With regard to the hon. Gentleman's first remarks, he is free to take whatever decisions he likes about what he eats, and we all value the fact that he is able to do so. In time, however, he may well feel that his initial remarks were ill founded. There is a meat trade, and it is important that the highest standards apply-- we have led the way on this--for animals reared in, and transported from, this country. We have pioneered the way in which those standards can be implemented across Europe, and that is the answer. We cannot just focus on what we do here, as what happens over the water is equally important in terms of animal welfare.
Mr. Gallie:
Is my hon. Friend aware that today McDonald's is importing foreign beef products? Is she also aware that health observation in other countries throughout Europe is perhaps not so stringent as ours and that animal welfare considerations have been shown not to be of such great concern? Does she feel that McDonald's has made a great error of judgment?
Mrs. Browning:
We shall work hard to encourage McDonald's to lift its decision on British beef as quickly as possible, because that will surely give confidence to the beef market both at home and abroad. We have no intention of allowing beef from other countries to undermine our marketplace here. We are studying imports of beef carefully to see that we can be absolutely sure that they comply with the sort of assurances on British beef that we give the population of this country.
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