Clause 8 - Tests for registration: utility and least suffering
Hunting Bill
10:45 am
Mr Alun Michael (Minister of State (Rural Affairs), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Cardiff South and Penarth, Labour/Co-operative)
My hon. Friend is right. He is as helpful as ever.
Again, it is open to a farmer to take decisions on animal husbandry, which may have considerable implications for the protection of stock against predation. That is open to the landowner. It is a matter for the farmer to decide.
Parliament has made clear its will that cruelty associated with hunting be dealt with. That test, which must demonstrate that the activity is necessary and not cruel and that no method is available that will achieve the objective without the likelihood of causing suffering, is the one on which the Bill is based.