FAILING to tackle the spread of TB in cattle could lead to a European ban on meat exports which would cause a "catastrophic economic loss" to farmers, a Gloucestershire MP has warned.
With badgers being a reservoir for the disease it would be "simply foolish" not to take action with a cull, according to Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
In Gloucestershire, a quarter of farms were currently subject to movement restrictions as a result of the disease, which led to major financial losses, he said.
Mr Clifton-Brown was speaking during a parliamentary debate in which opponents of the cull warned it would be bad for tourism as visitors will be driven away "by the sound of gunfire and protests".
Labour called for a halt to the shooting of the animals in Gloucestershire and Somerset, but its motion was defeated by 250 votes to 299 – a government majority of 49.
An amendment signed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, which supported the two pilot culls, by passed by 298 votes to 237 – a majority of 61.
It stated that bovine TB has led to the slaughter of 28,000 cattle last year at a cost of £100million to the taxpayer.
Mr Clifton-Brown echoed the recent warning of the Department for Environment's chief scientific advisor, who pointed to pressure to deal with the growing epidemic from Brussels, which has the power to impose an export ban on cattle.
The MP said: "The simple fact is if we do nothing our TB free status could be put at risk, and whether we are members of the European Union or not would make not a jot of difference if the EU declared we had got TB and therefore our meat would not be able to be exported to countries that were members of the EU. That would cause catastrophic economic loss to our farmers."
He said every "tool in the box" needed to be used to tackle this "dreadful and economically devastating" disease.
Proposing the Labour motion against the cull, Shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creagh said: "It is bad for farmers as the cull would cost them more than it saves them, bad for farmers because the science does not stack up, and bad for farmers as tourists decide to holiday somewhere else, having decided that the sound of gunfire and protest is not conducive to vacation relaxation."