I WOULD like to voice my opposition to Government plans to introduce "passports" for the UK's 850,000 horses. These proposals would see the creation of an identity scheme for all equine animals in the country and is yet enough another example of worthless central government bureaucracy.

The horse passport scheme is a European initiative that is primarily designed to combat the occurrence of illegal equine drugs entering the human food chain.

This is a ludicrous and totally pointless idea. Barely any horses from the UK enter the European human food chain, the British people do not eat horsemeat, and frankly it seems to me to be yet another worthless piece of European legislation that shouldn't apply to us at all.

Furthermore horse passports do nothing to improve the welfare of animals, and could end up costing horse-owners thousands of pounds. It is simply a nonsensical piece of unnecessary bureaucracy.

Each horse passport will cost £100 (including vet's fees), and horse owners who are not in possession of a passport for their animal could be fined up to £5,000, or face a prison sentence of six months.

I have signed Early Day Motion 680 calling on the Government to re-consider its position regarding the horse passport scheme, and to introduce a voluntary scheme for any UK horse-owners whose animals do end up in the human food chain.

Bill Wiggin, MP for Leominster, House of Commons, London