Clause 8 - Tests for registration: utility and least suffering
Hunting Bill
11:00 am
Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test, Labour)
I was in the process of placing the seat of my pants on my chair. During that process the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire intervened and, therefore, like the ruling in the panel game ''Just a Minute'', it counts. The hon. Gentleman was absent, for honourable reasons, from the debate on amendment No. 131 when I asked whether one could separate recreational pleasure from the pursuit of pest control. It was clear in that amendment, as it is in amendment No. 187, that the pursuit of mammals with dogs should be permissible only as pest control and in terms of utility. Therefore, the tribunal would consider pest control when it heard an application for any form of pursuit of wild animals with dogs. I have set out that there is not a further test that people must not enjoy it. Rabbiting would fall into that category; that is fairly explicit.
I have also mentioned that I am dealing with the Bill as it stands; I cannot anticipate what other hon. Members might do in relation to future amendments. If amendments were agreed, it is possible that we would have to revisit other areas for consequential purposes. However, we are not in that position; it is purely hypothetical. I seek to amend the Bill as it stands.