Schedule 1 - Exempt Hunting
Hunting (Re-committed) Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Lembit Öpik (Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
I am surprised by that and have not been to see the fell packs. Unless other hon. Members can contribute, I am satisfied to take the hon. Gentleman at his word. If other hon. Members can contradict him, they can get up and make their point. In mid-Wales, gun packs are effective and work towards pest control.
I am calming down after my uncharacteristic outburst. In my characteristically generous way, I should like to praise the hon. Member for Worcester for having listened to outside bodies and having been influenced by feedback from outside the Houses of Parliament. If he were to listen even more closely, he would recognise that those outside bodies are hardly likely to have told him that they can flush to guns using two dogs. If just two dogs are used for flushing, there could be a chase round and round the woods, which would extend the chase rather than reducing it. Although I recognise that he will not listen to what I say in Committee, it might be appropriate for me to speak to outside bodies that can phone him up and influence him. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time. I therefore ask the Minister, who has shown himself able and willing to listen to the Committee as well as to outside bodies, how flushing to guns can work effectively if only two dogs are used.