Results 1-20 of 27 for hunting speaker:Peter Atkinson

Written Answers — Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Foot and Mouth Disease: Hunting (18 Oct 2007)

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will review regulations that forbid trail and drag hunting and stalking in low risk foot and mouth areas such as Northumberland, Cumbria and Yorkshire.

Opposition Day — [1(st) Allotted Day]: Transport Strategy (5 Dec 2006)

Peter Atkinson: I agree. The hon. Member for Reading, West is a curious combination. He is an enthusiastic angler who likes catching fish, but he voted to ban hunting, which is a difficult piece of moral gymnastics.

Opposition Day — [1(st) Allotted Day]: Transport Strategy (5 Dec 2006)

Peter Atkinson: With respect to the Chair, who may not wish us to continue to debate the subject, may I tell the hon. Gentleman that I, too, am a keen fisherman, but I support hunting? It is a pity that the Secretary of State did not deal more fully with the Eddington report, which is an indictment of Government inaction over the past nine and a half years. It applies just as much to 2000 as to 2007, because...

Red Squirrel Population (28 Jun 2006)

Peter Atkinson: ...great problems. The problem of alien species is not unique to the UK; it occurs all over the world. The Australians are trying to eliminate European foxes, which were introduced to develop fox hunting in Australia. That puts me in a slight quandary, as I am rather fond of fox hunting, but I can understand the reasons for what the Australians are doing, because European foxes have done a...

Orders of the Day — Animal Welfare Bill: New Clause 8 — Docking of dogs' tails (14 Mar 2006)

Peter Atkinson: ...that I dislike bans. Parliament is increasingly getting into the habit of telling people what to do and not allowing individuals to make up their own mind on important issues. We did that with the Hunting Bill quite recently, and just the other day Parliament was telling pub owners, club owners and restaurateurs whether they would be allowed to have smokers or non-smokers in their...

Orders of the Day — Animal Welfare Bill: New Clause 8 — Docking of dogs' tails (14 Mar 2006)

Peter Atkinson: The answer to the hon. Gentleman's point is that the evidence is not conclusive on either side, which is why we should leave this to individuals. It is also why I believe that the hunting ban is wrong. People should make their own mind up on these issues. Another reason for my voting against is that we are in danger of producing bad legislation. Goodness knows, the Hunting Bill was a bad...

Farming and Rural Communities (19 Jan 2005)

Mr Peter Atkinson: I am grateful to the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Jackson) for at least one thing in his speech—the support of hunting. It is a pleasure to hear someone on the Labour Benches putting forward a sensible view on that sport. I agree with him about one other thing. He mentioned Tom Williams, a formidable Labour agriculture Minister. Mr. Williams was also a staunch defender of hunting and...

Orders of the Day — Hunting Bill (18 Nov 2004)

Mr Peter Atkinson: ...and potentially open to challenge under the Human Rights Act 1998. Has he noticed that coursing is not included in both extensions that the Minister proposes? If something is unreasonable for hunting, why is it not unreasonable for coursing?

Orders of the Day — Hunting Bill (15 Sep 2004)

Mr Peter Atkinson: ...the next general election and prevent demonstrations from happening during the campaign. Another bit of marvellous spin from the Government—the suggestion that the delay was to give the hunting fraternity the opportunity to express their view at the ballot box—absolutely defies belief. I am remiss in not having declared my entry in the Register of Members' Interests. Another...

Orders of the Day — Hunting Bill (15 Sep 2004)

Mr Peter Atkinson: ..., they will be out of work in three months without compensation. The Minister spoke about the number of deer being killed by hounds. Once again, he perpetuates a myth that has long surrounded stag hunting, not recognising that the stag is shot at the end, and not killed by the hounds. I want to be sure, before he wipes out stag hunting, that he at least knows what goes on in the sport. The...

Hunting Bill: New Clause 13 — Registered Hunting: Absolute Bans: Deer, Hares, Foxes and Terrierwork (30 Jun 2003)

Mr Peter Atkinson: ...Gorton (Mr. Kaufman), in his usual way, dismissed the accusations about why people in the countryside are so angry about the Bill, but then, illogically, started to quote public opinion surveys on hunting. May I tell him that people in the countryside are so angry about the Bill because I cannot remember any Bill that has been attended by so much dishonesty and duplicity by the Government...

Hunting Bill: New Clause 13 — Registered Hunting: Absolute Bans: Deer, Hares, Foxes and Terrierwork (30 Jun 2003)

Mr Peter Atkinson: There we have it. That is exactly it, and when the Minister spoke at a meeting of about 200 to 300 hunting and shooting supporters in my constituency, he clearly indicated to them that he would keep an open mind, and they went away partially reassured that he would do so. When we see what he has finally come up with, we can understand why they feel so betrayed.

Hunting Bill: New Clause 13 — Registered Hunting: Absolute Bans: Deer, Hares, Foxes and Terrierwork (30 Jun 2003)

Mr Peter Atkinson: That is a good point that needs answering. The people who hunt, shoot and fish will have seen what has happened in the months leading up to this stage in the Bill's consideration and will know full well what is in store for them. If they believe that hunting, shooting and fishing are safe, they should learn a lesson from this case.

Hunting Bill: New Clause 13 — Registered Hunting: Absolute Bans: Deer, Hares, Foxes and Terrierwork (30 Jun 2003)

Mr Peter Atkinson: ...for Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality said at the start of his speech. I wrote them down and I hope that I have got them more or less right. He said that, in some circumstances, hunting causes significantly less suffering than other methods of control. If that is what he believes, why is he saying that one cannot hunt between 1 August and 1 November? Where is the logic to...

Hunting Bill: New Clause 13 — Registered Hunting: Absolute Bans: Deer, Hares, Foxes and Terrierwork (30 Jun 2003)

Mr Peter Atkinson: ...high-power rifles. Some have shotguns and some do not. I have an upland constituency in which there are sheep farms. In one area, all the tenant farmers of the Ministry of Defence elect the local hunt as their pest controller. If the hunt did not exist, the farmers would have to control foxes despite having little time or expertise. The methods used would vastly increase foxes' suffering...

Hunting Bill: New Clause 13 — Registered Hunting: Absolute Bans: Deer, Hares, Foxes and Terrierwork (30 Jun 2003)

Mr Peter Atkinson: .... The temptation to organise deer drives to convert a pest into the valuable commodity of venison would be overwhelming. I assure hon. Members that within a year or two of the end of deer hunting on Exmoor, there would be a decline in the number and quality of deer and a change to methods of deer management. Many of my hon. Friends and I put our names to an amendment that the Government...

Written Answers — Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Hunting (28 Nov 2002)

Mr Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will publish the evidence submitted during the consultation process relating to hunting.

Schedule: Hunting with Dogs: Prohibition (27 Feb 2001)

Mr Peter Atkinson: ...right as a constable until only a few years ago, when that legal anomaly was put right. There is a vast amount of historical confusion about the location of the border. There are predominantly two hunts in my constituency. The Border Foxhounds, which I mentioned in an intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington), has defined country on both sides of the border,...

Schedule: Hunting with Dogs: Prohibition (27 Feb 2001)

Mr Peter Atkinson: I can confirm that no hunting of deer with hounds takes place in any of the border counties. It does not take place in Northumberland or Cumberland; it happens only in the south-west of England.

Schedule: Hunting with Dogs: Prohibition (27 Feb 2001)

Mr Peter Atkinson: I should point out that one pack in my constituency, the Border Foxhounds, has hunting country on both sides of the border. Other packs hunt on one side but may cross; this pack crosses the border regularly, as a matter of course.