Member's statement: Bovine TB
Member's statement by Mr Robbie Butler on .
- MLA
- Mr Robbie Butler
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 28 January 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Bovine TB
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4763536
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Mr Speaker, on my way to the Chamber, I spent the last 20 minutes on a phone call with a constituent who raised a serious issue that has been around for many years. It is one that you are well aware of: what we are doing about TB in cattle. In November last year, the Minister brought out a review of the review, and we are in a stage of paralysis by analysis. The constituent whom I spoke to this morning has 70 cows that have been identified as having TB. The direction from the Department is that those animals will have to be destroyed at a time of its convenience. The reality for that farmer is that he feeds those cows every day. The cows need to be milked every day, producing thousands of litres of milk that have to be destroyed. It occurred to me that, in getting rid of that milk, there is an environmental impact. Nothing good can be done with it. It has to be squirrelled away somewhere, but, obviously, the toxicity of that milk in the environment has to be considered. That farmer is practically on his knees this morning. We have been having the discussion for many years about badgers and cattle. He said that we just do not have the balance right. Farmers often feel that they are discredited in regard to how they feel about their animals. Animal welfare features highly in their priorities. They love their cows. The daughters of that gentleman have named most of the cows, because they are from a breeding herd. The financial implications reach further than what the Department can do by way of paying out money for those cows. The farmer has to feed them every day. Knowing that they are to be destroyed, he has to look at them. They are part of the family fabric. Farmers are under great pressure. We are in a phase now where further paralysis by analysis is just heaping more hurt and harm on our farming community, which is under significant pressure, given what is coming at it from Westminster. I speak on behalf of farmers in my constituency, who care about animal welfare. By the way, the farmer was not calling for an all-out cull. He understands the animal welfare aspect. However, we are out of kilter, out of balance. The Department and the Minister really need to get over the analysis stage and get to a stage where we can redefine that balance not just for our wildlife but for farm animals and our farmers.
430 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.04 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.88).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.99).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.88 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.99 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.92 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.05 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.02 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:52 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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