Schedule 3 - Hunting with dogs: prohibition
Hunting Bill
3:15 pm
Mr Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed, Liberal Democrat)
Is the Parliamentary Secretary saying that the preceding Act overrides the Bill and the general prohibition contained in it? The hon. Lady may be having difficulty understanding the note that has been passed to her. She has my sympathy because this is a difficult point. We have discovered something important this afternoon; that the traditional practice of deer stalking, using a dog to assist in locating the deer, could be prohibited by the Bill, unless the hon. Lady is right that, in some mysterious way, the Deer Act confers an exception. In that case, it ought to be referred to in the Bill. If she has had an opportunity to read the note, can she now tell me one way or another?