Schedule 3 - Hunting with dogs: prohibition
Hunting Bill
10:15 am
Mr Edward Garnier (Harborough, Conservative)
The awful thing is that I do not think that I can answer that, but hon. Members who follow the arguments of Deadline 2000—there may be one or two on the Government Benches—may be able to assist my hon. Friend. The Minister has candidly admitted that he has come to today's sitting armed with a copy of ``Archbold'', the well known textbook. Unfortunately, it is a rather elderly edition. He is a Minister of huge experience and grey before his years, but I am sure that his politics, under new Labour, do not reflect the colour of the cover of that great tome. I will leave it to him to answer my hon. Friend's question in due course, if he feels it appropriate.
I shall pursue one or two lines of thought to try to make progress in improving the Bill. The approach of paragraph 3 is flawed for a number of reasons. Although offences beyond that in paragraph 1 might be regarded as secondary offences, I suggest that they are primary offences, and as such go beyond the normal common law rules that relate to secondary parties. Common law has clearly established that someone who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of an offence by someone else is guilty of the like offence. There is no need for such provision.
While bearing in mind the elderly edition of ``Archbold'' on the Government Front Bench, I remind hon. Members of some of the points that my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh) drew to our attention on Tuesday afternoon.