Ann Widdecombe: ...because that addresses one law. Today, we have to address this law. The chief constable of North Wales, who can be a little zealous sometimes—that is why I am pleased that he is now in charge of hunting—defended six police officers arresting a man who had used a rather vulgar term for a lesbian to a third party. That is the state that we live in. We do not live in a moderate state that...
Ann Widdecombe: ...abortions, even when they clearly fall outside the law. Somehow it is felt that we should not pursue that matter. The Minister will know that there is an enormous lack of will to ensure that the Hunting Act 2004 is enforced— [ Interruption. ] I thought that that was going to get more of a reaction. We should distinguish between what is useable and what is used: they are different...
Ann Widdecombe: ...people have been obliged to participate in activity that they do not agree with. For example, a Christian printer was obliged to print homosexual literature—he was not obliged to print abortion, hunting or any other sort of literature, but he was obliged to print that. The concern has grown. Now that we have the current Bill, it has crescendoed. I accept what the Minister said about the...
Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted under the Hunting Act 2004 in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006, broken down by police force area.
Ann Widdecombe: I could help the Minister, because I do have them. I was very careful about the way in which I phrased it. One conviction was for hunting with a pack of hounds, and the others concerned individuals with two dogs.
Ann Widdecombe: I think that the Minister will acknowledge that the hunts are carrying on because they are waiting for a change, which they think will take place at the next general election. They hope that the legislation will then be repealed, which is even greater reason to make their lives uncomfortable between now and then.
Ann Widdecombe: I am grateful for the opportunity to raise before the House the issue of the enforcement of the Hunting Act 2004. As has often been said, hundreds of hours were taken up in this Chamber debating whether or not there should be a ban on hunting with packs of hounds. Parliament voted for that ban on numerous occasions, and finally the ban became law. It is axiomatic that when the Chamber passes...
Ann Widdecombe: ...—or, at any rate, its success hitherto, pending the outcome of the appeal. We have to ask why the Act is not being enforced, even though the ban is broken blatantly day after day in the fox hunting season, and we have to ask what the Government intend to do to ensure that it is enforced.
Ann Widdecombe: Some hunts, but only a very small number, have registered as drag hunts. Only a small number have done so because once they register they are bound by drag-hunt rules and are subject to the discipline of drag hunting. Rather than convert to drag hunting, most of them say that they are not chasing live quarry but are flushing, following a trail or doing something else, because they do not want...
Ann Widdecombe: I am sure the Minister will appreciate that one gets fat not just as a result of what one eats, but as a result of not exercising. Whereas some cats love to go out hunting, there are other cats, like mine, that prefer to curl up and sleep.
Ann Widdecombe: ...if the proposal is carried. Will she reflect on the fact that we have perhaps heard all this before? Perhaps the House remembers that thousands of hounds were to be put down were we to put a ban on hunting.
Ann Widdecombe: I join those other Members who have paid much-deserved tribute to Tony Banks. Tony was a tremendous worker for animal welfare. He is obviously most closely associated with the Hunting Act 2004, but he was also involved in a vast range of other initiatives, including even almost declaring war on the Chinese Government over the treatment of bears in China. A lot of his work and his agitation...
Ann Widdecombe: .... I might say that my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) had his tail between his legs—[Laughter.] That would of course mean that he was somewhat dispirited after the hunting result. I might say that I was feeling waggy-tailed today, which would mean that I was happy. The tail is not just a point of communication for humans. We have to understand that the tail is a...
Ann Widdecombe: May I ask the hon. Lady, as I have asked several others who favour the extraordinary 18-month period, what the evidence is that that time will be used to run down hunts in an orderly and humane fashion rather than as a period of grace in which to do what the hon. Lady rightly describes as the unthinkable?
Ann Widdecombe: ...played in bringing about today's result. Can he provide me with any evidence at all that this period—as long as 18 months or, if to March, a little shorter than that—will be used to run down hunts in an orderly and humane fashion rather than simply used as a period of grace?
Ann Widdecombe: ...—would not support such a delay. The second reason for my not being persuaded concerns the crucial question—I raised it earlier—of how to ensure that the period of delay is used to run down hunts and make an orderly transition, rather than as a period of grace. It was clear from the answer given that although the Minister was seized of the point, there would be no monitoring of the...
Ann Widdecombe: ...willing to help—at least, I sincerely hope so—but my question was rather different. It was: how do we ensure that the period is used to bring about change, and not simply as a prolongation of hunting? My hunch is that the first year of an 18-month delay will prove to be a period of grace. After all, if a hunt starts to run down—if kennel-hands find other jobs, horses are disposed of...
Ann Widdecombe: ...not—that the Prime Minister has quite cynically manipulated this issue throughout two Parliaments? The right hon. Gentleman will know that I am on his side on the main issue: I shall vote for a hunting ban. However, it was not just before the last election that that pledge was made. Before the 1997 election, the Prime Minister undertook to provide a free vote followed by legislation if...
Ann Widdecombe: No, I am not. However, since the hon. Gentleman has kindly offered me the opportunity to make an intervention, I shall. Given the nine times that the House has voted in favour of a ban on hunting, would he join me in calling on his right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to get on with it and introduce legislation?
Ann Widdecombe: ...it, to change course. I congratulate him on showing the same courage tonight as he showed when he introduced his own Bill to a huge amount of disapprobation. I have made the argument against hunting too often in this House to want to repeat it in any detail tonight. I would rather concentrate on the relative merits of new clauses 11 and 13. I very much appreciate what the hon. Member for...
