Clause 8
Hunting Bill
8:55 am
Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire, Conservative)
It might be worth putting on the record that the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) has agreed that he does not mind being called my hon. Friend, although, technically, that is not so. [Interruption.] I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to his place. I am glad that he had as much difficulty as the rest of us in getting up so early. We shall try to be here at five minutes to nine in future.
Following our initial canter around the course on Tuesday, we now come to the main business. The sitting on Tuesday provided a useful opportunity to look at the principles behind our amendments and the way in which we wish to amend the Bill. I am glad that we had that opportunity and I am grateful for it.
I particularly commend to the Committee the
speech of my right hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) who, with his usual clarity, demonstrated that the Bill lacks any true moral justification. He argued that if there were any morality behind it, it should be easily and equally applicable to other human activities. That is the definition of morality. It is a moral law that can be applied to a variety of different activities and clearly the Bill cannot do that. Morality demands universality of application and clearly the Bill, with the cruelty and utility tests, does not. The truth was recognised most noticeably in The Daily Telegraph on 27 December—