Thank you, Neil Hamilton, again for your welcome for the refreshed TB eradication programme and for your questions. Actually, you said about Simon Thomas, I didn’t refer to the question around the informed purchasing scheme that Simon asked about, and you said that you thought I answered Paul Davies with sadness. We did bring this grant funding forward in the hope that all livestock markets would take it and then use it in the way that we would want. And as I said before—I think it was to Paul Davies—I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere; I think we are going to have to have a mandatory scheme. So, I have asked officials to look into how that could be introduced, probably through legislation. So, we’ll have to work that up.

I think it’s really important to work collaboratively and it’s something I’ve always done. I mentioned in relation to the delivery plan, it’s not a Welsh Government delivery plan, it’s owned by ourselves along with farmers and also the veterinary profession. I think that is the only way we’re ever going to get a TB-free Wales, which we all want to see. You’ll be aware that, when I made my statement in October, I talked about Northern Ireland and what they were doing around trapping badgers and testing them. If they were positive, they were humanely killed and if they were negative, they were vaccinated. We don’t have the vaccination available to us at the moment. It’s something that I’m hoping will come back next year, maybe late next year, and then holistically I would use it as part of the programme.

In relation to the compensation cap, you reiterated what I said, and I do appreciate that some people have invested significant sums of money in pedigree cattle. But, as I say, we will continue to monitor it, but they need to look at ensuring that.

You’re right about animal health and welfare, and I said in my answer to Simon Thomas that I think this way will be good for the badger population as well. So, whilst I absolutely rule out an England-style cull, because I don’t think it works, and the science and the evidence show that, I do think we have to break those chronic herd breakdowns. We cannot have herd breakdowns for 16, 17 years; it’s just completely unacceptable to the farmers and to the taxpayer, so we have to have this new approach.