Results 1-20 of 142 for hunting speaker:Nicholas Soames

Electoral Administration Bill (Programme) (No. 2): Clause 2 — Use of CORE information (13 Jun 2006)

Nicholas Soames: Few of us in the House can resist the blandishments of the Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, the hon. Member for Lewisham, East (Bridget Prentice), except perhaps on fox hunting. She is regarded on this side of the House as being eminently sound. There is no one here tonight who would not applaud what the MOD is trying to do. I accept that, but I rise to support the...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting (Re-committed) Bill: Clause 1 - Hunting wild mammals with dogs (3 Jul 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: I am now an old man, but when I started hunting 52 years ago, and certainly for the first 30 years that I hunted, no one ever saw policemen at hunts because there was never any need for them. Hunting was a law-abiding sport carried on by decent, honourable people. It was only after the appearance of rabid antis and their disgraceful behaviour that the police had to intercede to keep law and order.

Public Bill Committee: Hunting (Re-committed) Bill: New clause 8 - Compensation (3 Jul 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: My hon. Friend is pursuing a point that I am sure he remembers we debated at length in Committee. Would he care to reflect on the fact that the stud book of the Beaufort hounds that he hunts with in his constituency goes back to the 17th century? The buildings in which they are lodged are some of the finest and most magnificent of their type in the country. This in not just an act of...

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

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...I hope that the Minister will listen to the quotation, considering his sham interest in animal welfare. The letter says: "Be assured therefore that any legislation that bans or seriously restricts hunting the four quarry species cannot be regarded as having the welfare of wild animals as its primary objective. In fact, such legislation will cause unnecessary suffering, albeit largely...

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

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...and ignorant manner, the extraordinarily intricate tapestry that binds a remote and remarkable part of the United Kingdom together. As was said earlier, it is a fact that conservation and hunting go very much hand in hand, and with that in mind I shall conclude by saying something about the use of terriers. We had an extremely important debate in Committee about the use of terriers by...

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

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...paragraph, in possibly the culminating phrase of a long catalogue of deceit on his part, he says: "On Monday we have at long last the opportunity to fulfil our pledge to ban the cruel sport of hunting with dogs." That shows all the charade of the six months' consultation, wrapped up in the deceit that is being practised on the people of Britain tonight.

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

Hon. Nicholas Soames: Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that those of us who support hunting entered into detailed consultation, held by the Minister of State at Portcullis House, on the basis that a fair and sensible system would be produced that would do precisely what he argues against? It was on that basis that a great deal of work was done in Portcullis House, which, allegedly, played a part in framing the...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: New clause 4 - Compensation (27 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...that he put to such good use are still there. I have a high regard for him, as he knows, and I am grateful for the tone of his comments but much depends on where he looks. The countryside used for hunting has, in many ways, been improved and enhanced over the years. I agree that there has been terrible destruction to some parts of our farming land—one thinks of the terrible prairie...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: New clause 4 - Compensation (27 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: I rise to support the new clause as we reach the conclusion of what, for all those who have put their hearts and souls into defending the interests of hunting, has been a tragic few weeks in Committee. We can all see that the Bill will move towards a denouement on the Floor of the House which may regrettably lead to the banning of foxhunting by the House of Commons. The Minister has done...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Clause 45 - Interpretation (27 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: .... Foster) supported an amendment to ban the use of terriers working underground. As a consequence, gamekeepers will not be able to do their job properly—an unforeseen consequence of a ban on hunting.

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Clause 45 - Interpretation (25 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...colleague the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West is shaping up to replace the ghastly Derry. He has made a very important point. Will the Minister explain to the Committee his policy on the hunting of wild boar in England? An expectant sporting nation is anxious to hear it.

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Clause 45 - Interpretation (25 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...the use of more than two dogs to flush out boar? As my right hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Coastal knows, the boar is an enormous, powerful animal. He is familiar with the technique used to hunt boar in Germany, where they use proper dachshunds, which are fierce and unlike the ones that the Minister will have seen. I have never had to flush out wild boar in Mid-Sussex, but it is...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Clause 45 - Interpretation (25 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: The answer is that wild boar are hunted in France with hounds in the conventional way, as well as being shot. In Germany, they are only shot. As I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows, there is an increasing spread of wild boar in southern England. If the iniquities of the Bill make it necessary, we may have to transfer from hunting foxes to hunting wild boar.

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: New clause 11 - Use of dogs below ground (25 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...vermin that have to be controlled, the hon. Gentleman will be doing genuinely irrevocable harm to the eco-management of the countryside. That argument is outside the central argument to do with hunting. I understand, accept and honour those whose view is totally different from mine and that of all those who love hunting. Why should people be in favour of foxhunting? It is a very emotive...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: New clause 11 - Use of dogs below ground (25 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...against their better judgment, but, having been persuaded to do so, put their wholehearted effort into putting together the evidence to try to persuade the Minister and officials of the case for hunting and the preservation of order in the countryside through field sports. None entered into the debate more enthusiastically or with a greater sense of purpose and endeavour than the National...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Schedule 1 - Exempt Hunting (6 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: Given the Minister's emollient courtesy and as deer hunting is infinitely the best way of dealing with such matters, would not it be better if he withdrew the provision and let the matter rest?

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Schedule 1 - Exempt Hunting (6 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...with the amendment that we are back on the same ground as we were this morning with the dangers to keepers, or those who go out training labradors or young dogs? Such people might have no intent to hunt, but with the current bossiness reigning in the countryside, they might be liable to a private prosecution. The amendment would make the outcome more uncertain.

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Schedule 1 - Exempt Hunting (6 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...something. In a letter to the National Gamekeepers Organisation at the beginning of the year, he said that he would not want to do anything that would make their job impossible. Gamekeepers do not hunt mink in the sense of having a pack of mink hounds, but they may take out several dogs to try to find mink, because one dog would be inefficient or ineffective. They may take out a couple of...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Schedule 1 - Exempt Hunting (6 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...look to the Minister for an answer to this question: does he accept that stoats, minks and weasels present a serious threat to game and that dogs are essential for their control? Stoats are never hunted in the conventional sense—except on a bad day when there is nothing else to do. Basically, one does not go out to hunt a stoat. One does not have a stoat meet and there is no such...

Public Bill Committee: Hunting Bill: Schedule 1 - Exempt Hunting (6 Feb 2003)

Hon. Nicholas Soames: ...shooting, on the evidence of this morning's debate, it is wrong and mischievous to suggest otherwise than that, as there is every reason to believe, elements of shooting are in grave trouble. If hunting goes, the Government will be after shooting. Even if they do not go after shooting, they will make it increasingly impossible for keepers to do their jobs properly and thus maintain the...