Clause 8 - Tests for registration: utility and least suffering
Hunting Bill
5:30 pm
Mr Andrew George (St Ives, Liberal Democrat)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I have described those methods that are known to me and used by members of my family. I also described this morning the method that is used in London. I should have thought that trapping and the use of the bolt to the head would be a very humane method of pest control.
I am not convinced about the issue. We can research until the cows come home, but the fact is that the cows are coming home and we need to come to a decision now. We can always conduct further research, but I do not think that the kind of research that some hon. Members suggest will result in our getting closer to the truth. On both sides of the debate, people approach this issue with a pile of prejudices—I think that my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire agrees with that. We have reached the point where a decision must be made, and quickly.
On clause 8, given the arguments that have been put forward, how does the Minister justify the need for regulation and what scenarios could he envisage in which there would be a need for hunting because—as he must believe, having thought it through—other forms of pest control are less humane than registered hunting? If he is unable to suggest any such scenarios, that would call into question the need for clause 8. The hon. Member for West Ham is right. My view is that
we should give the issue some further debating time. I am prepared to let the clause through, but I reserve my right at a later stage to support those who wish to delete the proposals on registration and therefore clause 8.
Sitting suspended.
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