7.
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice is given by his Department to those engaged in agriculture as to the treatment of badgers.
Since badgers are not pests, I see no occasion for advising anybody about how to treat them.
Would the hon. Gentleman not agree that the badger is a useful rather than harmful animal, and would he publicise this view, making it clear that the only inconvenience the badger causes is to the fox hunters?
I would go a very long way with the hon. Gentleman. The badger does very little damage. It occasionally, but unusually, kills poultry, and it occasionally rolls among corn, but since I was brought up on "The Wind in the Willows" I have always been of the firm belief that generally the badger is a benevolent animal.