Speeches by Zeichner.

“The right hon. Gentleman raises an important point. As he will be aware, significant international trade issues are involved, but as we look to a world in which we seem to have more and more of these cases, that is certainly something that we keep under consideration.”

“Let me deal first with the second of those two questions. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Of course there is concern, but I can assure him and the House that the advice from the UK Health Security Agency is that avian influenza is primarily a disease of birds, and the risk to the health of the general public is…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He will recall the terrible outbreak a few years ago when exactly those questions were raised and, as the shadow Minister, I asked similar questions at the time. The compensation arrangements were changed by the previous Government in a beneficial way, and I am absolutely confident a…”

“I thank the shadow Secretary of State for her important questions. First, I reassure her and the House that the individual in question is, in my understanding, making a full recovery, but obviously we want to ensure that no one is put at undue risk. The advice is clear: the only people at risk are those who are in very…”

“Avian influenza is once again posing a threat to both kept and wild birds across the country, and supporting birdkeepers, the public and conservation bodies to manage and prepare for avian influenza continues to be one of our main priorities. Following the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry and o…”

“I am, as ever, grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue as it impacts Northern Ireland. We have been developing a UK-wide response to this, and my officials are in constant contact with officials from his Administration. We will ensure that this UK-wide response continues to be in place, because it is very …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his very important question. I can assure him that an entire apparatus is in place to ensure that all reassurance can be given to the kind of businesses that the right hon. Member for Maldon (Sir John Whittingdale) described. From an animal welfare point of view, we will ensure that everybody…”

“The hon. Gentleman makes strong points. I think there is general awareness of, and concern about, what is going on. It is important to say to people that, if they have concerns and they see such things, they should report them. On our work with the devolved Administrations, we have a very strong structure that allows a…”

“The hon. Lady is absolutely right: we need to be very careful about that. I can assure her that those are exactly the kinds of discussions that I am having with officials. We are tracking that and have the technology these days to look closely at what is going on. I will not go into the expert account on the Floor of t…”

“The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The importance of biosecurity cannot be overstressed —that is the way to tackle this. He is also right to say that amateurs and small bird keepers are important, and that is why they were brought within the registration scheme, which is beneficial and welcome.”

“I thank the Chair of the Select Committee, who is absolutely right. We have heard harrowing accounts in this Chamber of the experiences in Members’ local communities—the situation with wild birds is awful. Of course, officials and I are constantly in dialogue with those organisations, but the truth is that in the wild …”

“I thank my hon. Friend—and he is a friend—for his concern. Of course, this is of particular concern and interest to representatives from the east of England, and I share that concern. We have discussed the future of Weybridge and the investment many times before. I gently point out that the Conservative Government had …”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his invitation. I have had numerous invitations. Last week, I was in Northumberland looking at rural crime, and this week I was at the Fenland SOIL—sustainability, opportunity, innovation, learning—conference. I will add the hon. Gentleman’s invitation to my list.”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his important question. Everything we do to stop the spread will help businesses such as the one he described. Some specific rules and regulations also apply in those particular cases, which I can make available to him if he wishes.”

“We have indeed assessed it. Of course, it is extraordinary that that happened. In terms of what we are doing, the system is well resourced to deal with these outbreaks, and we work in a cross-party way on that.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. Let us speak outside this debate about that particular case; I am not qualified to comment on it at the moment. Rising energy costs also pose a challenge to rural communities and businesses, and I am all too aware that fuel poverty rates are higher in rural communities. We a…”

“My hon. Friend and I meet frequently, but I will very happily meet him to hear more about what sounds like an excellent initiative. I shall turn now to another point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland, which was the importance of education and skills. It is absolutely essential that we ensure …”

“I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s intervention, but I do not share his pessimism. There are real opportunities, but it is up to us to make sure that they are realised. He makes an important point. The Government absolutely recognise that there are specific challenges and opportunities that make rural communities a…”

“Again, my hon. Friend tempts me to rewrite the policies of the Department for Education, but I recognise the problem he highlights. I am pleased about the presumption against the closure of maintained rural schools, but he points to a very important challenge. As we all know, the survival of local schools is key to man…”

“I think probably not.”