| Hunting Bill
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Mr. Garnier: The Minister said that because the amendment refers only to 40 he need not condescend to justify his figure of two. I think that he does and that the proceedings of the Committee would be greatly enhanced if he condescended to justify his drafting of paragraph 1(4). That has even greater force when one sees that, as he candidly pointed out, there is no mention of a number in paragraph 1(7) or (6). Paul Holmes: On amendment No. 347, I appreciate the Minister's assurance that the intention of paragraph 1(7) is not to allow large packs of hounds to hunt injured or diseased animals under the terms of the rescue clause. I am not convinced by the argument that it would be apparent to someone in that situation that they were breaking the law. There will be an unnecessarily grey area in the legislation if the loophole is not closed, and I shall press my amendment. The Chairman: We shall all be called to vote at 5 pm, so this is an appropriate moment to suspend the Committee. The best assessment that I can offer is that the Committee should stand suspended until 7.30 pm. If there is any delay, the Committee will reconvene as soon as the voting has finished, but I anticipate that 7.30 pm will be adequate to provide a short break. I hope that hon. Members will accept that. I am advised that we cannot return to Room 14 this evening because a Minister has booked it for 150 people. We can have it on Thursday morning—perhaps hon. Members will make a note of that—but we cannot have it on Thursday afternoon because the Northern Ireland Grand Committee is being televised again. I hope that that is clear to hon. Members.
4.54 pmSitting suspended. [Continued in column 799]
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| Prepared 4 February 2003 | |
