Bovine TB: Labour politician says TB hit farms should find other work

Around 9,500 cattle were slaughtered as a result of bovine TB in Wales last year

A Labour politician has been criticised for suggesting dairy farms with "perpetual" bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infections "find another business".

Mid and West Wales Senedd member Joyce Watson spoke after a statement by the rural affairs minister on Tuesday.

Farming union NFU Cymru called Ms Watson's comment "deplorable", "shocking" and "insensitive".

The Conservatives said she had shown a "complete lack of empathy", Plaid Cymru called on her to apologise.

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Ms Watson said later that if she had had longer to speak she would have explained she was "talking about several farms which have been continuously impacted by TB, and the ongoing pressures of the current systems".

Minister Lesley Griffiths had been speaking about Wales' bovine bTB eradication programme, after a new five-year strategy with the ultimate aim of making Wales free of the disease by 2041 was unveiled in March.

Ms Watson asked her: "Have you looked at any farms that have perpetual TB status, and have you considered the question of whether those particular farms should be dairy farms at all?

"Because if it is the case that they are in perpetual TB infection status, surely they need to find another business?"

Ms Griffiths did not answer the question.

Ms Watson's region of Mid and West Wales covers much of rural Wales, covering the areas of Powys, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.

Joyce Watson was first elected to Cardiff Bay in 2007

Writing to Ms Watson, the NFU Cymru's Roger Lewis said he was "truly saddened and disappointed" to hear her "insensitive comments".

"I am struggling to put into words my frustration that a Member of the Senedd (MS) elected to represent Mid and West Wales could make such deplorable comments, so lacking in empathy and respect for the farming families in your constituency going through the emotional hell of dealing with an outbreak of bovine TB on their farm," he wrote.

'Grab situation by scruff of the neck'

Welsh Conservative shadow rural affairs minister Samuel Kurtz agreed that the Labour MS has shown "a complete lack of empathy for farming families suffering with the consequences of the Welsh government's lack of progress on bovine TB eradication".

England began a badger cull 10 years ago to help control the spread of bovine TB in cattle, but culling is banned in Wales and there is more focus on cattle testing.

Plaid Cymru agriculture spokesman Llyr Gruffydd has written to Ms Watson urging her to apologise for "deeply offensive" comments that "utterly disregard the pain that farming families and communities go through as they aim to eradicate TB".

"This particularly insensitive contribution by the Labour member is ignorant and insensitive and should be withdrawn. At the very least we expect is an apology."

Mr Grufydd has also written to Ms Griffiths asking her to disassociate herself from the comments and clarify the Welsh government's position.

Responding to the criticism, Ms Watson said: "Had I had longer to speak I would have explained that I was talking about several farms which have been continuously impacted by TB, and the ongoing pressures of the current systems.

"I know that the cycle of having to test, to cull, then to start all over again causes a huge stress to dairy farmers. In those cases, I think there should be a conversation about how that situation can be resolved, or at least improved.

"Wales has had a TB eradication programme in place since 2008 and, recognising the stress and anguish TB can have on farming families, the Welsh Labour government continues to offer support initiatives."

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