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A committee of MPs has said it is disappointed with the environment secretary's decision not to go ahead with a programme of badger culling.
The Commons environment committee said in a new report on Wednesday that Hilary Benn's strategy for tackling bovine tuberculosis is "not good enough".
Benn announced earlier this month that he had decided not to order a cull of badgers in England as there was insufficient evidence that the scheme would work.
Instead he proposed a range of biosecurity measures designed to help farmers reduce the incidence of the disease, including new investment in a bovine TB vaccine.
But the MPs, which in February concluded that "culling could make a contribution towards the reduction in incidence of cattle TB in hot spot areas" as part of a series of measures, said the government was "opting out of leadership of the issue".
"There is little in the government's strategy, beyond the current policy of surveillance, testing and slaughter, to tackle the disease in the short-term," the committee claimed.
It also disputed ministers' claims that the bovine TB is only a regional problem and criticised their over-reliance on the use of as yet untested vaccines.
"The government has chosen to put all its eggs in one basket by focusing its energies and funding on the long-term goal of developing cattle and badger vaccines when it is unlikely that a badger vaccine will be available before 2014 and a cattle vaccine before 2015," it said.
Committee chairman Michael Jack said: "The committee unanimously felt that the response by the secretary of state was less than satisfactory and that certain key deficiencies in it should be highlighted.
"We look forward to hearing from the secretary of state again on this subject in the autumn."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd