THAT this Hunting Bill seeks to ban all hare hunting and coursing shows the essential dishonesty of Rural Affairs' Minister Alun Michael's "consultation process".
The Government has wasted taxpayers' money on inquiries, consultation and hearings only to completely ignore their conclusions.
Mr Michael vowed his legislation would be based on "principle and evidence" but has ultimately bowed to the prejudice and bigotry of Labour backbenchers.
The Government's own Burns Report makes it clear that hare numbers might well fall if hare hunting and coursing were banned, as a result of habitat loss and shooting to deter poachers.
Clearly, maintaining a healthy brown hare population and bringing forward a Bill to further animal welfare is secondary to waging class warfare.
Originally, Alun Michael's Bill proposed to allow hare hunting and most hare coursing under licence.
Yet all it took to wipe this proposal out was for some backbench MPs to bring forward proposals to ban all hare hunting.
The Minister felt unable to support his own Bill and failed to vote against the amendment.
His behaviour is incomprehensible unless, as has been claimed, it was for him never a question of "if" hunting should be banned but "how" it should be banned.
P KING,
Bransford, Worcester.
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