When the Prime Minister told us that success always derived from less regulation, did he have in mind as an example the origins of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis?

The Labour party, and myself on occasions, have been accused of many things, but to be accused by the hon. Member for Hexham (Mr. Atkinson) of being responsible for the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis so that we could attract attention to ourselves is going a bit far.

It is estimated that some 1,500 people have been laid off due to the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

That is not appropriate for the Current Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

One is the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, which has been dealt with in considerable detail, and with eloquence, by my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, Central (Mr. Illsley) on the Front Bench.

When I spoke in the two-day debate on 16 May, I said that the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis was a disaster for the farming industry.

There is a view that the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis is a terrible but isolated disaster, which can be resolved by the introduction of a few practical measures and the shelling out of a great deal of public money to compensate an industry that has, to a large extent, brought the disaster on itself, after which business can continue as usual.

Is it possible to arrange for the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to come to the House to make a statement and answer questions about an aspect of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis that has never been adequately dealt with in the House, that is, the operation of the 30-month slaughter scheme?

Mr. Douglas Hogg: Job losses resulting from the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis are being monitored by the Employment Service, which is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment.

The reaction to the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis was exacerbated because it was clear that many people were not aware that the practical risk of their catching BSE was one in 5 million, while the chance of being killed while crossing a road is one in the hundreds.

The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis broke out last March, and led to the ban on the export of United Kingdom beef.

This year, we have had perhaps the most glaring example of all - the handling, or perhaps I should say bungling, of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

Does the Prime Minister acknowledge the impact of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis on rural communities, and does he accept that that concern is compounded by the problems surrounding the Government's approach to the selective slaughter programme and the fact that different Ministers are saying different things to different people in different places?

Finally, the Leader of the House is aware of the long-standing and widespread despair at the Government's handling of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, which has been made evident on many occasions by both Government and Opposition Members.

The thrust ofthose policies, whether on jobs, transport, housing, industry or even agriculture - the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis has significantly added to poverty among small farmers - has damaged rural and urban economies and communities alike.

I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that answer and for visiting my constituency recently and talking directly to several farmers who have been hit by the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

We do not want Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis-type financial obligations falling on a country that is already struggling to cope with an excessive deficit.

I quite agree that John Maynard Keynes would be spinning in his grave if he was told that the solution to a country getting into serious fiscal deficit problems was to impose on it a fine equivalent to the cost of Our Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his estimate of the number of jobs lost in the farming industry in Northern Ireland as a consequence of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

When the Leader of the House is considering a further statement or debate on the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, will he ensure that that debate or statement contains a full presentation about the disposal of BSE waste?

The classic example has been the handling of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

In the past year, all three main sectors - dairy, sheep and beef - have been affected in some way by the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

I well remember attending a packed meeting of Derbyshire farmers with the hon. Member for West Derbyshire (Mr. McLoughlin) at the time of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

The industry has suffered greatly in recent years, most recently because of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, which has affected our beef industry.

Farmers have faced the most desperate 18 months in the history of modern agriculture thanks to the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis.

Does the Minister accept that, as the Government's endeavour to resolve the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis by making an offer of providing independent advice was rejected, despite the new positive approach and the lack of confrontation, we have simply had another slap in the face based on wholly irrational arguments, such as the definition of a herd?

Added to the chaos in the agriculture sector and the total mishandling of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, people lost all confidence in the Conservatives.

I accept that some welcome progress has been made in dealing with the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis caused by the previous Government, but may I ask the Prime Minister whether he has had drawn to his attention the critical situation that is developing in cattle markets throughout the country, from Caithness to Cornwall, as a result of the reduction in the over-30-months scheme payments which will be made on 4 August, and the consequent collapse in beef prices?

Would my right hon. Friend care to comment on what he could have achieved with the health service if the £5 billion that has been squandered on the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis by the previous Government had been available to him to spend?

Will the Minister speculate that, if the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis had occurred after the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, a Minister for agriculture responsible to the Scottish Parliament would have had the power to negotiate a separate deal for the agricultural community within Scotland?

The previous Government muddled the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis with HLCA payments.

That, combined with the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, is creating a catastrophic situation in areas such as my own in rural Wales, where livestock farming takes place.

My second tried, in the wake of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, to establish a review board charged with examining the implications of intensive farming from the point of view of both human health and animal welfare.

The OTMs was of course an attempt to restore public confidence in the beef herd following the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, which came to a head on 20 March 1994.

The figure of £1 billion of support because of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis flips off my tongue, in addition to the £500,000 to support the beef industry.

Despite the Recent Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, we produce fish, beef, dairy products, drink - particularly whisky - and other agricultural products that are sought not just in the UK but throughout the world.

Last year, the right hon. Gentleman's Government provided £60 million of extra assistance to deal with the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, but they made no further provision for the following year.

We are subject to the restrictions of the ban imposed on meat, bone meal and other products because of the mismanagement of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis by the previous Government.

One of the reasons is the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, but the other is that products produced in this country are now 25 per cent.

Let us welcome the fact that £70 million will be made available for a cattle traceability scheme and let us remember that the Conservative party presided over the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, but did not produce a computer scheme like that, which will help.

A little progress, which we welcome, has been made this week on an issue that has dominated the economic argument in large parts of Wales: the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, which has led to a rural crisis, with a real-terms drop in farming incomes per head of 45 per cent; the actual figures have been quoted as over 90 per cent.

We are giving £150 million of extra support to the agricultural community as it begins to recover from the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, which certainly began under the previous Government.

I understand that, as a result of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis, the technology of traceability has improved by leaps and bounds.

As hon. Members will know, effective implementation of the OTM rule and scheme is one of the central pillars of the Florence agreement to tackle the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis and its aftermath so as to build up consumer and European confidence and secure a normal operation of the European market, into which, as hon. Members from all parties know, we have put a huge effort.

That is what we did at the time of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis - we got contingency funding from the Treasury, which paid extra money because of the cost of BSE.