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The Hunting Bill

Doug Naysmith MP’s Letter from Westminster for the Observer, North Bristol and South Gloucestershire Editions

You will have seen the scenes inside and outside Parliament when the opponents of hunting burst into the chamber of the House of Commons. What you have not seen are the piles of letters I have received over the last seven years from people urging me to do all I can to ensure hunting with dogs goes the way of bear-baiting, cock fighting and other cruel sports.

For most of us there are more important issues than hunting. Education, healthcare, transport, affordable housing and law and order come higher up our list of priorities whether we live in the country or the town. But a recent poll shows that most people think hunting should be banned and we have debated it in the House of Commons nine times in the last ten years. It is time the matter was settled. On Wednesday 15th September I voted, once again, to ban hunting and I hope that vote will be the last. If the Bill is rejected by the unelected House of Lords, I think the Government should insist that the elected MPs’ decision prevails.

One likely, sad result of the invasion of the House of Commons is that it may be harder for any of you to come into the House of Commons to see your MP or watch Prime Ministers Questions. Some people already think that politicians are remote from their lives and I fear that any new security restrictions may make us seem more remote still. After the last attack, a screen was built to separate the gallery where visitors sit and the floor of the House where the MPs are. Visitors can still see and hear what is happening, but the feeling of closeness and being part of the action has been lost. Over the years, many of you who are my constituents in Bristol North West have been to Westminster, either to lobby me as part of a group, or, as individuals, to visit and tell me their views. I do not want to see this made more difficult.