here - United Kingdom Parliament

1763 Pollinators and Pesticides
6 JUNE 2013 Pollinators and Pesticides 1764
effects of bee decline, it is the Government’s duty to act
with appropriate caution—a duty they have utterly
failed to recognise. In other words, DEFRA Ministers
must apply the precautionary principle, as set out in the
1992 United Nations Rio declaration and the Lisbon
treaty. It is not for the Government to entertain a
value-based preference for false negatives—a desperate
willingness to conclude that neonicotinoid pesticides
are safe when they might not be. As the Environmental
Audit Committee report states,
“economic factors should not blur environmental risk assessment
and risk management, where the protection of people and the
environment must be paramount.”
The sense of disappointment in the Government’s
actions on bee-harming neonicotinoids is compounded
by the fact that this is exactly the sort of issue—one that
has far-reaching and potentially devastating environmental
and economic implications—that we expect the UK to
champion. We of all countries have always had a reputation
for thorough scientific research, real concern for the
environment and respect for the precautionary principle,
and that the Government did not decide to take a
proactive leading role in tackling bee decline related to
pesticide use reflects very poorly on our nation’s attitude
to environmental issues and severely damages the UK’s
reputation for diligence and responsibility regarding the
environment. The Government have not lived up to
expectations. They should have had the foresight to
lead; instead, they have allowed themselves to be beaten
around by the big companies—a point my hon. Friend
the Member for Bristol East made clearly—and left us
trailing behind.
Now the Government must seize the chance to make
a fresh start. The two-year moratorium on the use of
three neonicotinoid pesticides on crops attractive to
honey bees will provide an opportunity for DEFRA
Ministers to carry out careful and impartial monitoring
of the effect on bee populations of the removal of
pesticides. That will be a positive action that demonstrates
the UK’s appreciation of the seriousness of bee decline
and its commitment to working to reverse it. It will also
demonstrate the UK’s support for the work of the
European Commission, which also plans to use the
two-year suspension period to review new scientific
evidence on how pollinators are faring more generally.
The Government must also overhaul their national
action plan for the sustainable use of pesticides. It was
necessary to take legal advice on whether the action
plan complied with the minimum standards of the EU
directive, which strongly suggests that the Government
failed to see the directive as an opportunity to address
the wider issue of pesticide use. In fact, UK use of
insecticides on crops pollinated by bees remains on a
steady upward trend. The Government must abandon
their irresponsible, lacklustre approach and rewrite the
action plan to incentivise farmers to use non-pesticide-based
methods of pest control, making sure to include targets,
measures and timetables for the reduction of pesticide
use overall.
The Government must also recognise their duty to
apply the precautionary principle. Given what is at
stake, DEFRA must commit itself to erring on the side
of caution in matters relating to bee decline and in
future complex matters relating to the protection of
people and the environment. The Select Committee
observed:
“There is no compelling economic or agricultural case for
neonicotinoid use in private gardens and on amenities such as
golf courses”
and said that that might provide DEFRA Ministers
with an immediate opportunity to prove their commitment
to the precautionary principle.
It is time for the Government to turn themselves
around and to move away from their disappointing
behaviour on neonicotinoid insecticides by accepting
the European moratorium with grace and applying
themselves to tackling the harm caused to bees by
pesticides. They also need to look more widely at their
policy on bees and work to formulate and introduce a
comprehensive bee action plan to save threatened habitats,
promote bee-friendly farming and construction practices,
and guide councils and the public on how they can
protect our nation’s vital pollinators.
On pesticides and on all these measures, the UK
Government must take the lead. What steps will the
Minister take to ensure that a UK-wide moratorium on
the three neonicotinoid pesticides is fully in place by the
deadline of 1 December? Will the Minister prove his
commitment to countering the bee decline by setting
quantitative targets for the reduction of all pesticide use
and working hard to encourage the use of alternative
pest management methods, as the EU directive requires?
Will the Minister follow the example of the Labour
Welsh Government’s draft action plan for pollinators,
which sets out measures to help all bee species across all
policy areas, including farming, conservation and planning?
If so, when will he implement a UK-wide bee action
plan? I very much hope that the Minister will be able to
provide some answers this afternoon.
4.30 pm
Mr Tom Harris (Glasgow South) (Lab): I begin by
echoing other Members’ tributes to my hon. Friend the
Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Joan Walley) for
initiating the debate. Her Committee has published an
important and powerful report on the subject and I
commend all members of the Environmental Audit
Committee for producing it. I am sure the Minister has
pored over the document in detail and will give us his
thoughts on it later this afternoon.
Outstanding contributions have been made by my
hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Martin Caton),
the hon. Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) and
my hon. Friends the Members for Southampton, Test
(Dr Whitehead), for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) and
for Llanelli (Nia Griffith). As usually happens when
Front Benchers wind up these debates, we tend to be left
with only the task of repeating many of the points that
have already been made. It reminds me of the old saying
that at any meeting everything that has to be said has
already been said, but not everyone has said it yet. So I
shall plough on regardless.
The debate around neonicotinoids has brought the
decline of bee and pollinator populations into sharp
focus. The profound effects this will have on the future
of horticulture, agriculture and the wider environment
cannot be overstated. Bees and other pollinating insects
play a vital role in our food supply, providing essential
pollination services estimated to be worth £440 million
to UK agriculture each year, as well as enriching our
natural environment and biodiversity.