Clause 29 - Amendment of Automatic conditions
Hunting Bill
5:15 pm
Mr Edward Garnier (Harborough, Conservative)
This is self-evidently a bad amendment. I am delighted for the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside that he is not here to move this dreadful piece of legislation and had to rely on the hon. Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping) to do it for him.
Removing paragraphs (b) and (c) is clearly a device that is designed to unbalance the Bill. It is bad enough to give the Secretary of State unspecified powers, but to give him the power only to add conditions, without at the same time giving him powers to remove or vary them, strikes me as wholly unjust and extremely dangerous. I am amazed that someone as sensible and honourable as the hon. Member for Sherwood, who has had the misfortune to move the amendment, thought it a good thing to do. I trust that he will reconsider.