Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:06 pm on 18 October 2016.
Minister, I think key here is how we tackle TB in the wildlife reservoir, and I have to say, listening to you, I’m glad that you want to eradicate TB. That is your aim, and that is absolutely appropriate, given the consequences, post Brexit, where we could find that various countries will use this as an excuse not to take our beef.
But you’ve now said that you do not see a vaccine being available in the near future, and you don’t have a policy about what you’re going to do regarding badgers, which are the main vector in terms of the wildlife population. So, I do urge you to come up with a policy that does address what we do with the wildlife reservoir as soon as possible. I agree that we should rely on the science, and perhaps you could start with the British Veterinary Association, and their latest report on humane killing of diseased badgers. It should be controlled. It’s a horrible thing to talk about, but unfortunately, we probably need to do some of it.