Clause 13 - Application by individual
Hunting Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Gregory Barker (Bexhill and Battle, Conservative)
In speaking to the amendment, I shall speak against amendments Nos. 266 to 269,
which the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) tabled, and shall seek to protect to the interests of one of the most disadvantaged and overlooked groups in 21st-century Britain, namely the rural poor. The amendment, which is tabled in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire, would cap the registration fee at £10 for individuals and at £100 for groups. By contrast, the amendments that the hon. Member for St. Ives has tabled require the prescribed registration fee to be at least as much as the expense incurred through processing the application.
It is a matter of record that rural wages, particularly agricultural wages, are among the lowest in the modern economy.