Hunting Bill passes unopposed
The Hunting Bill paving the way for an outright ban on hunting with hounds in England and Wales has passed its second reading in the House of Lords.
About fifty peers reviewed the bill in a near nine hour long debate last night before passing it to committee stage, which convenes later this month.
Peers will have another chance to amend the bill during this stage and several may seek a compromise of fox hunting under license.
With the Lords debating the second reading of the bill, Labour peer Baroness Mallalieu, who is also president of the Countryside Alliance, called on her colleagues to press for a compromise permitting fox hunting under licence.
Animal welfare groups have rejected any talk of a compromise.
John Rolls, the RSPCA’s director of animal welfare promotion, said “there can be no compromise on cruelty, nothing has changed.”
Last month, the House of Commons backed a ban on hunting with hounds in England and Wales by 339 votes to 155, passing all of the stages of the Bill in a single day, despite the floor of the Commons chamber being invaded by pro-hunt campaigners.
The Government has threatened to wield the Parliament Act to push the legislation through Westminster if peers reject it again. They argue that the democratically elected chamber, the House of Commons, has repeatedly voted for a ban and its will should not be opposed by an unelected body.
Lord Whitty, Minister for Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy, opening the second reading debate on the Bill, warned peers they were in “the last chance saloon” on the issue.
“The ball is in the court in this House, of those who have supported hunting in its present form, to offer a way forward, or alternatively to accept the Bill as it now stands if we are not to provoke the use of the Parliament Act” he said.
Lady Mallalieu though told the upper chamber a ban on hunting with hounds would create a “running sore” in sections of the countryside community.
“The Prime Minister says that he still wants a compromise and so I believe do we in this Parliament, because a nation which is divided is in no-one’s interests,” she said.
She said if a ban were to find its way onto the statute books, “respect for Parliament, for its ability to protect the freedom of minorities and respect for the due process of law” would “break down” in a number of parts of the country.
She expressed the hope that the Lords would “work constructively” to return a “regulatory” bill to the Commons based on a framework backed by Rural Affairs Minister, Alun Michael.
