Clause 2 - Registered hunting
Hunting Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Tony Banks (West Ham, Labour)
On a point of order, Mr. Stevenson. I was absent from the Committee last week, attending the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. My attention has been drawn to references to me made in the Committee on 28 January. Notice of the intention of the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) to make those references did not arrive in my office until after I had left for Strasbourg, despite the fact that the quoted letter from Stanley Johnson was sent to him on 17 December 2002.
I probably receive more letters on animal welfare issues than any other Member, other than Ministers. That has been the case since 1983. It is true that the International Fund for Animal Welfare provided funding for a research assistant in my office from 1991. That was declared in the Register of Members' Interests every year, and to the Inland Revenue. That support ceased when I became a Minister in 1997 and I have not sought any renewal of it. My involvement with a wide range of animal welfare organisations is one of the worst kept secrets in Parliament. I am proud of those links and have never sought to hide them.
I deeply resent any suggestion that my support for animal welfare arises from a financial consideration, or that I have failed to register any financial support. The hon. Member for North Wiltshire has now written to the Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards. I have spoken to Sir Philip and received a copy of the letter that he sent to the hon. Gentleman. I shall obviously not quote from that letter, but suffice it to say that the clear imputation is that the hon. Gentleman should put up or shut up. I endorse that, because if the hon. Gentleman thinks I will let the matter rest, he is sadly mistaken.
As for Stanley Johnson's letter, I have referred it to my solicitors, since it has been made available to the public and press and is not covered by parliamentary privilege. Johnson's letter makes allegations that I know to be untrue and believe to be damaging. The letter that the hon. Member for North Wiltshire wrote to the Commissioner, dated 27 January—the day before he raised the matter in this Committee—referred to ''undeclared donations''. He must now know that that is untrue. It is for others to judge whether Stanley Johnson or I have made the greater contribution to the cause of animal welfare. I understand that Johnson has received a salary from IFAW of between £70,000 and £80,000 a year for 15 years. That sum is not unadjacent to £1 million. I wonder how many of IFAW's members know that one of its most highly paid employees was such an
enthusiastic supporter of hunting. I hope only that Johnson has managed to save something from that £1 million, because he is going to need it.