Welsh Conservative Shadow Farming Minister Andrew RT Davies has warned Plaid Cymru ministers they must not allow officials to curtail action to combat bovine TB.
Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Davies told Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability Llyr Gruffydd to “get a grip” of officials who he feared had curtailed the new administration’s ambitions.
Davies committed to supporting Gruffydd’s efforts to tackle bovine TB if he brought forward a “positive vision” to eradicating the disease.
Mr Davies said:
“Bovine TB is devastating for the countryside, yet for the past 20 years those in power have let rural communities down.
“Plaid Cymru separatist ministers must get a grip of officials.
“They must not be allowed to curtail ambition to tackle this terrible disease.”
ENDS
NOTE: please find below the Senedd’s record of proceedings from Tuesday 23rd June
https://record.senedd.wales/Plenary/16076#C764540
Andrew R.T. Davies
16:06:38
Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon. When I was reading it, I did think that that firebrand politician that used to sit this side of the Chamber had turned into the canary in the cage that his officials had put him in, and there was nothing really in the statement, to be honest with you. There were lots of reviews, there was little substance to benchmark what you were promising to do, and I regret that you have now been curtailed in your ambition by your officials. So, I hope that you will get a grip of your officials and actually start tackling the menace that is bovine TB that the Labour spokesperson was trying to take credit for, for their Government’s failure to eradicate it. I mean, talk about smoke and mirrors, you can’t make it up, to be honest with you.
It is a serious, serious issue in the countryside, and the reason why numbers are going down is because your rural policy shut so many livestock farms down. That’s why the numbers are going down, because people have lost heart and they want to see a Government that will tackle bovine TB once and for all. So, get a grip, Minister, come forward with a positive vision of what you want to do, and you will have this side of the Chamber supporting you in that. As I said to you in your spokesperson’s questions the other day, there is a majority in this Chamber, for the first time in 20 years, that wants to see that step change in dealing with bovine TB. Use it, use it positively, and let’s make Wales TB-free and eradicate this terrible disease from the countryside.
Llyr Gruffydd
16:10:41
On TB, I suppose you’re right: being in Government is about getting to grips with some of these issues. I hear what you said, and you said it last time I was on my feet in this Chamber, but we really have to wait for the advice of the technical advice group. They have been charged with bringing forward concrete proposals on the way ahead. If you think that we as politicians know better, that’s fine. I think we wait for the experts to speak; we look at the evidence, we look at the science that they provide us, and then we get a grip and take action.
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