Results 1-20 of 35 for hunting speaker:Nick Palmer

Business of the House (18 Oct 2007)

Nick Palmer: Mark Glover, the distinguished animal welfare campaigner who is chair of the organisation Respect for Animals, goes on trial today in Canada for the dreadful crime of filming a seal hunt. Given the widespread aversion to seal clubbing among hon. Members of all parties, will the Leader of the House agree to an early debate on a ban on seal product imports into Britain?

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

Nick Palmer: I admire the hon. Gentleman's consistency on the matter, but does he not agree, whichever side of the hunting debate we were on, that there is a lot of unhappiness about the grey areas and the attempts to get round that legislation? We should be deciding: are we to allow docking or not? The attempts at a fudge somewhere in between are unhelpful.

Orders of the Day — Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill (2 Dec 2005)

Nick Palmer: ...as my hon. Friends have said, it was adequately covered by current legislation. Conservative Members need to be careful, to use an outmoded metaphor, that they are not running with the fox and hunting with the hounds. The hon. Member for Vale of York and other Conservative Members cite the Tony Martin case as an example of strong public feeling, but if we agree that those elements of the...

Public Bill Committee: Water Bill [Lords]: Clause 61 - Fluoridation of water supplies (23 Oct 2003)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...organised the vote. I turn to the substance of the amendments. There are four separate issues. The first is whether fluoride is at all helpful to teeth. Although, as with the Burns inquiry on fox hunting, we all quote the bits of the York review that we like, leaving aside all minor issues, there is no serious dispute about whether fluoride reduces decay; it does. We can argue about how...

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

Dr Nick Palmer: ...he was in the Chamber when I asked the Minister about the impact of voting on the later stages of the Bill. However, now that the Minister has confirmed that if the vote on the banning of fox hunting is carried, part 2 will be dropped, does he agree that the argument for dropping mink hunting to smooth the passage of the Bill falls away? If we are going to have to tidy up the Bill anyway,...

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

Dr Nick Palmer: Although I sympathise up to a point, does not my hon. Friend feel that he is being a little harsh? Tonight, for the first time, we have the opportunity and the realistic prospect of banning hunting for good. We have the Labour Government to thank for that. They have taken too long over it, but we have got there.

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

Dr Nick Palmer: ...'s speech a note of criticism of new clause 13. In an interesting passage, he said that if we introduced registration, a future Conservative Government might be able to use it to restore fox hunting. How many of the practices mentioned in new clause 13 would the Conservatives reintroduce?

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

Dr Nick Palmer: ...Friend for being exceptionally generous in giving way in all directions. Can he clarify something? He set out very clearly that the Bill divides species into three categories—those for which hunting with dogs is always cruel, those for which it is never cruel and those for which it needs to be subject to registration. If we were to add one or two species to the first category, why...

Hunting Bill (Programme) (No. 3) (30 Jun 2003)

Dr Nick Palmer: Will my right hon. Friend clarify the substantive issue about the need for additional Committee proceedings? I am a co-signatory to an amendment on mink hunting and I understand that the Government feel that if foxes are exempt, it might be necessary to delete part 2 of the Bill and thus the matter would have to go back to Committee. Is that the reason? If mink hunting were not banned...

Hunting Bill (16 Dec 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: ..., which my hon. Friend initiated, and have supported earlier early-day motions on the same subject. Does he agree that the Bill gives us the first chance that we have had in our generation to end hunting with hounds? Does he also agree that, whatever its defects, it is an entirely welcome development—[Interruption.]

Hunting Bill (16 Dec 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: To clarify one point, the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) accused me and others who oppose hunting of class envy. I do not know which class he believes himself to belong to, but I have no wish to join it. I welcome the Government's consistency and courage in delivering a conclusion to a debate that has been running for more than 100 years. I especially welcome the...

Hunting Bill (16 Dec 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...for Brighton, Kemptown (Dr. Turner) that the primary determinant of fox numbers is the availability of food. Although there are regional variations, nationally the number of foxes that die due to hunting is just over 5 per cent. That means that hunting's contribution to the control of fox numbers is actually insignificant. We spend a great deal of time debating whether alternatives are...

Hunting Bill (16 Dec 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...; indeed, perhaps we could do so outside the Lobby. Most Members, as well as most of our supporters, will want the House to decide on these matters. Ultimately, the question of whether to allow foxhunting, mink hunting or hare hunting is a very simple one. Given that only 5 per cent. of foxes are killed by hunts, it is clear that the objective is primarily recreational. Do we want a sport...

Hunting Bill (16 Dec 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: Does my hon. Friend agree that we should not look a gift fox in the mouth? If we succeed in banning hunting through the Bill, hon. Members who have been disappointed will forgive us.

Hunting Bill (16 Dec 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: A number of Conservative constituents have told me that they will never vote Conservative again if the party maintains its commitment to reintroducing hunting if elected. Will the hon. Gentleman maintain that commitment?

Transport of Animals (15 Oct 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...specifically to horses. These issues are widely accepted in Britain because of the transport of horses of very high quality for racing and other purposes such as–dare I say it–fox hunting. Recommendation 32 is that an official veterinarian with appropriate additional training and understanding of their role must supervise the loading of all animals to be transported for more...

Hunting With Dogs (18 Mar 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...causes real distress to animals merely for the sake of sport, it is not frivolous to want to ban it. I refer to distress rather than to cruelty, because I do not think that most people who take part in hunts are motivated by cruelty in the sense of wishing to cause pain. They are motivated by a wish to enjoy themselves, and they accept that, as a by-product, the animals will be caused some...

Hunting With Dogs (18 Mar 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...with probably fewer welfare implications, and it makes an exception for uplands, where it thinks gun packs are necessary; I shall return to that issue. Secondly, as several hon. Members have said, hunting is, in fact, only responsible for the deaths of 6, 7 or 8 per cent. of foxes. In all areas outside the Welsh uplands, hunting is not a serious contributor to the control of fox numbers,...

Hunting With Dogs (18 Mar 2002)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...well. We have to accept that there will be occasions when the kill is swift and occasions when it is less swift, and it will be particularly horrible in those cases. But for every fox killed by a hunt, a number of others will be chased and caused considerable, lengthy distress. Indeed, the hunts make a point of stressing that many foxes escape, especially the healthier ones. I spoke to a...

Transport of Farm Animals (1 May 2001)

Dr Nick Palmer: ...animals speculatively at markets and move them from one market to another, looking for a better price. We can imagine the stress of animals packed into transporters for day after day as the dealer hunts his profit. I am not against profit, but we can reasonably ask ourselves whether that activity, with its cost in animal suffering and human risk, is producing anything worth while. Thirdly,...