Clause 1 - Hunting wild mammals with dogs
Hunting (Re-committed) Bill
10:15 am
Mr Alun Michael (Minister of State (Rural Affairs), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Cardiff South and Penarth, Labour/Co-operative)
I imply from the right hon. Gentleman's suggestion, that that would mean specifying in the title—we should then have to be consistent—that the Bill deals only with particular sorts of hunting. The Bill deals with all hunting. There may be hunting that does not happen at the moment, such as the hunting of wild boar or of animals that have not yet been introduced into this country. If we do what he suggests and insert one or two specifics into the long title and the Bill, we would leave those activities theoretically outside the scope of the Bill. The Bill deals with all aspects of hunting. Hare coursing is dealt with separately because, legally, it is separate from hunting. The purpose of hare coursing is to compare the speed of the two animals, a definition given quite clearly—
Several hon. Members rose—