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)
The hon. Gentleman will understand that I believe that the Bill that I brought before the House on Monday would have been the most effective and the most simple to enforce. However, it is not difficult to understand the choice that the House of Commons made, and it is not difficult to make clear law, which the amendments will achieve. I am not sure what point the hon. Gentleman is trying to make. We have debated what should or should not be allowed and what should or should not be illegal on many occasions, including all the sittings of this Committee. A mechanism was proposed for foxhunting and mink hunting—it would have applied to a wider range of activities—but it was not given the support of the House on Monday and consequences flow from that.