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| Benn confirms TB cull rejection | Benn confirms TB cull rejection |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The government will not issue licences to cull badgers to prevent cattle TB in England, Hilary Benn has confirmed. | The government will not issue licences to cull badgers to prevent cattle TB in England, Hilary Benn has confirmed. |
| In a Commons statement, the environment secretary said that while a large-scale cull could improve the situation, it could also make the problem worse. | In a Commons statement, the environment secretary said that while a large-scale cull could improve the situation, it could also make the problem worse. |
| The National Farmers' Union (NFU) is taking legal advice on the decision, which was leaked to BBC News on Friday. | The National Farmers' Union (NFU) is taking legal advice on the decision, which was leaked to BBC News on Friday. |
| About 4,000 herds were affected by the disease last year, mainly in the south-west of England. | About 4,000 herds were affected by the disease last year, mainly in the south-west of England. |
| Rather than culling, vaccination will form a cornerstone of bovine TB policy, and the government is to invest £20m into research. | |
| The government based its decision on advice from the Independent Scientific Group which it established to review research on the issue. | |
| The ISG concluded that culling would not be an economic solution to the problem, as did the Environment and Rural Affairs select committee. | |
| A subsequent analysis led by the government's former chief scientific advisor Sir David King came down in favour of culling. | |
| Better or worse | |
| Mr Benn recalled that the UK Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) concluded that proactive culling - attempting to wipe out badgers across large swathes of countryside - could reduce disease incidence inside the cull zone, but increased it around the edges of the zone. | |
| "I have decided that while such a cull might work, it might also not work," he said. | |
| "It could end up making the disease worse if it was not sustained over time or delivered effectively." | |
| Some landowners would be reluctant to allow culling on their land, he acknowledged, making effective delivery of the strategy less likely. | |
| The RBCT concluded that reactive culling - killing badgers in the area around an outbreak that had already been identified - made things worse. | |
| "It may not be what people would assume would be the answer to the question, but it is the answer to the question," he said. |