Clause 1 - Amendment of Weeds Act 1959 - to provide for the control of ragwort
Equine Welfare (Ragwort Control) Bill
9:25 am
Mr John Greenway (Ryedale, Conservative)
Welcome to the Chair, Mr. Illsley. I thank colleagues who are present and those who have given their apologies for being unable to attend because of Standing Committee and other duties in other parts of the House, and the Minister, for their support, help and co-operation in progressing the Bill. I always think that, when colleagues introduce private Members' Bills and get to Committee, they can sniff the finishing line in the distance. I believe that we have every prospect of getting the Bill on the statute book, subject to the smooth passage of today's proceedings.
I wish to explain the amendments to clause 1. On Second Reading, I said that the Bill offered three different alternatives, options or approaches to strengthening the law on the control of ragwort, and it is right that we remind ourselves that the need is urgent. This year, 1,000 or more horses or ponies will die from ingesting ragwort, which is a poison that, over time, destroys the horse's vital organs, resulting in certain death. I have received overwhelming support for action to tackle the problem, even since the debate on Second Reading.
I place on record my thanks to the British Horse Society for its support. I also thank the specialist press. I shall not name all the publications, but there are several that are attractive to horse owners, and they have shown great interest in the Bill. That has prompted many people the length and breadth of Britain to write to me with their stories about what ragwort has done to their horse or pony.
On Second Reading, I promised the Minister that I would work with him to settle on just one of the alternatives, and that I would seek to amend the Bill accordingly in Committee. The various amendments reflect what we agreed, as well as my objectives and the concerns of horse owners.
At the same time, the amendments reflect the reality—I stress that word—of what we can practically hope to achieve in the current climate of concern among all parties in the House not to impose additional or unreasonable burdens on local authorities, which are not funded or resourced to deal with the problem. I know that that is a concern for the Minister and his ministerial colleagues in other Departments, and it is equally clear that the overwhelming view of the Conservative party as the official Opposition is not to impose unreasonable and unnecessary burdens. Therefore, I want not to make a partisan point, but to recognise the practical realities that we face in trying, particularly through the private Member's Bill route, to introduce such a measure.