Clause 6 - Deer
Hunting Bill
2:45 pm
Mr Tony Banks (West Ham, Labour)
I do not want to go too far down that road. I accept and understand why the hon. Gentleman defends his constituents' activities, however bizarre and grotesque I may think them. There are occasions when I go to see West Ham play and I am glad to see them lose—when they are playing Chelsea. In normal circumstances, I like to see them win. I might add that it causes a few problems in my area for the Member of Parliament for West Ham to have been a Chelsea supporter for so many years. That is one of the burdens that I have to bear and I hope that my constituents will bear it with me.
On the matter of whether deer are pests and on damage to land, I am simply not convinced. I did not hear the conclusion of the speech by the hon. Member for North Wiltshire because I had to be elsewhere, but I suspect that I would not have agreed with him or his conclusions. He would not have changed my mind any more than I will change his, which is why I do not intend to go on at any great length. I find arguments about precious land and the need to deal with the pressure of deer herds specious.
We produce far too much food for our needs. We pay farmers large amounts of money not to grow anything on their land. Farmers could play a very honourable role in preserving wildlife, which would be much better than their saying that they have valuable grazing land that must be protected against deer that want to munch a mouthful of their grass.