House of Commons
Friday 5 March 1999
The House met at half-past Nine o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Orders of the Day
Fur Farming (Prohibition) Bill
Order for Second Reading read.
9.34 am
Maria Eagle (Liverpool, Garston): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
Before making my introductory remarks, I should make a declaration of interest. Since 1 January 1999, I have received staff assistance from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Respect for Animals in preparing the Bill and dealing with issues arising directly from my choice of subject for my private Member's Bill.
I am grateful for my good fortune--at least, many say that it is good fortune, although over the past few days I have been wondering quite how good it is--in coming so high in the private Members' ballot and so having a chance to present my Bill to the House. Like all those who have had the same opportunity, I spent many difficult hours deciding how to use it. Finally, I decided to deal with a small matter. Fur farming is no longer a massive industry in this country, but it is one that is controversial in many ways: many object to it and believe that it perpetrates cruelty to the animals involved. My Bill would prohibit fur farming in this country.
Fur farming has been going on in Great Britain for 70 years. It began in this country in 1929 and still exists here, albeit in a small way. There are now 11 fur farmers and 13 fur farms remaining, all in England. That represents a precipitate decline in numbers over the past 30 years or so, as, back in the 1960s, there were 700 fur farms. As far as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and I are aware, the only animal still farmed in this country is mink. Mink are not indigenous to this country, but are natives of north America.
Fur farming is the intensive breeding of essentially wild animals, mink in this country and other animals elsewhere, although until recently fox, too, was farmed in this country. Because the animals have to be kept and bred intensively, they are kept in relatively small cages
and are unable to exhibit their natural behaviour.They live relatively short lives in some distress prior to being slaughtered for their fur.
Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire):
I am sure that the House will be keen to learn when the hon. Lady last visited a mink farm, how many times she has visited mink farms and how much time she has spent studying mink.
Maria Eagle:
I have arranged to visit two farms. Since I decided to take up the Bill, I have had some difficulty in arranging to visit a farm.
Maria Eagle:
If the hon. Gentleman will allow me, I shall complete my answer. Then, if he wants to intervene again, he can.
Mr. John Austin (Erith and Thamesmead):
Will my hon. Friend give way?
Maria Eagle:
I shall finish answering the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) and then give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Erith and Thamesmead (Mr. Austin).
I had an arrangement to visit one farm, although it took me some time to get through the obstruction of the British Fur Trade Association, which controls access to mink farms. Since taking up the Bill, I have attempted to visit mink farms and I asked the BFTA to allow me to visit two. It offered a visit to only one farm--a farm in the west country, to which visitors are always taken--and I made it clear that I should be happy to visit that farm. However, the association would not allow me to visit any other farm. I said that I would visit the farm that the trade association wanted me to visit, but only if I was allowed to visit another.
I am happy to say that an arrangement has, at last, been made. I was due to visit one of the farms on Tuesday, but, because of the sudden onset of what I assure the hon. Gentleman was a rather painful medical condition, I had to cancel the trip. However, I hope to rearrange it as soon as possible, and I have every intention of visiting at least two of the remaining farms. That is not a bad percentage, given that there are only 13 fur farms left. Now, I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Erith and Thamesmead.
Mr. Austin:
I was merely going to make the point that, although I had never been to South Africa, that did not make it impossible for me to conclude that apartheid was an obscene evil. Has my hon. Friend, like me, never seen bear baiting, but would agree that it is an obscene spectacle?
Maria Eagle:
My hon. Friend makes a valid point. I want to be reasonable: I recognise that my Bill would make unlawful something that until now has been lawful in this country, and I realise that that, in itself, is draconian. I recognise that I have an obligation to visit fur farms, so I have done my utmost to do so. However, I agree with my hon. Friend that it is perfectly possible to conclude, without having seen it, that that sort of rearing
Mrs. Alice Mahon (Halifax):
I do not believe that my hon. Friend will be invited to the Swalesmoor fur farm in my constituency, which prosecuted Lynx in 1989. The farm was described as a hell-hole, and from what I saw of the conditions there for mink, that description was absolutely correct. The mink were living in their own filth and were self-mutilating. Unfortunately, Lynx lost the court case because, I understand, the judge had a fondness for hunting. The fur farm is a hell-hole, and it still exists. Because of the violent methods that are used at the fur farm, I am sure that my hon. Friend would not be welcome if she tried to visit.
Maria Eagle:
In view of what my hon. Friend says, I may attempt to visit that fur farm, and I should be happy if she could facilitate a visit. Certainly, the British Fur Trade Association, which represents the farmers, has been unable to facilitate that visit, although I have been attempting for some time to go there.
Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West):
May I warn the hon. Lady to strengthen her stomach--indeed, to go with an empty stomach--when she visits a mink farm? I have visited such places.
In respect of what was said by the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon), it is worth noting that many convictions have been secured against the keepers of mink. However, no matter how far access to fur farms for the hon. Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle) has been restricted by the British Fur Trade Association, access to the mink farm in my constituency has not been restricted far enough, and disastrous consequences have followed for the natural fauna surrounding it.
Maria Eagle:
The hon. Gentleman is referring to the fur farm in his constituency that was one of those that suffered from the release of mink, however it was perpetrated. I appreciate his concern, and I shall refer further to the effect of the release of mink.
First, however, I come to the long title of the Bill, which explains as fully as possible precisely what is to be prohibited if the Bill becomes law. The Bill's purpose is:
Clause 1 establishes the offence. Clauses 2 to 4 bestow necessary powers on the courts so that they may make the legislation effective. The main purpose of my Bill is to allow the Minister, should he so wish, to establish a scheme under which compensation could be paid to existing fur farm businesses that would have to close if the Bill were enacted.
We are speaking of small numbers of fur farms. As I have said, only 13 remain, and there are only 11 farmers. However, my Bill provides for compensation, as I hope its opponents will note. I do not believe that it is legally necessary to compensate, but it would be preferable to do so. That is why the provision is in the Bill, and I am grateful that the Government have been persuadable on compensation.
Mr. Douglas Hogg (Sleaford and North Hykeham):
The hon. Lady touches on compensation, saying that it is preferable that it should be paid. Would she answer two points? First, if that is her view, why is the obligation to pay compensation not mandatory? Secondly, losses are defined so as to exclude loss of income. In other words, businesses may receive some compensation, but the main loss that they will suffer--revenue--is put outside the compensation regime.
Maria Eagle:
I understand those points. There are arguments on both sides of them. They are suitable points for the Committee stage, should the Bill succeed in obtaining a Second Reading. I am sure that those points will be raised in Committee by the Bill's opponents.
As a mere newish Back Bencher, I found that obtaining the Government's agreement to having a money order for a private Member's Bill was a sufficiently difficult task without my laying down the law about figures. As the Member promoting the Bill, it is not for me to decide on the precise compensation. The right hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr. Hogg) can see that the clause sets out a methodology by which to work it out. The Bill also allows for negotiation between the parties over what should be compensated for, and allows for an independent appeals process so that farmers who are dissatisfied about the final determination may appeal to an independent body--the Lands Tribunal. An independent decision can therefore be made on what compensation they should be paid.
I thank the Government for their support in introducing the Bill. It is unusual to allow private Members' Bills to spend Government money, and it was not easy to get the Government to agree to that. I am glad to have their agreement, as compensation is a vital part of the Bill. In due course, when orders are laid, if the Bill becomes law, I trust that the matter will be dealt with amicably and that farmers who lose their businesses will be satisfied. I have every expectation that that will be the case.
In order to define what the Bill is about, I should say something of what it is not about. There has been hysteria among some opponents of the Bill who have sought to suggest that it is the thin end of a wedge that will affect a much wider range of farming. That is not my intention. The Bill is not about banning fur as a by-product. It is not intended to bring about, and nor will it, the banning of the use of fur where fur is a by-product of, for example, food production. Where rabbits, for example, are produced for food, the Bill will not prohibit that.
The Bill is not about banning the production of skins as a by-product of food production. It has been suggested that cattle hide and leather might be banned as a result of the Bill, but that is simply nonsensical. Where animals are produced primarily for food, nothing in the Bill will prevent the use of their skins or fur as a by-product. The Bill is not about prohibiting the wearing, purchase, sale or trade of fur. It will not prohibit other elements of the fur trade.
What the Bill does seek to prohibit is the cruel exploitation of what are essentially wild animals for an unessential luxury item--their fur. Opponents of the Bill will doubtless tell me that others would go further than I do, and that is true. Many supporters of the Bill would like other elements of animal husbandry to be changed. They may wish to see fur banned. Those are matters for them--the Bill is not intended to go along that path.
"To prohibit the keeping of animals with a view to their slaughter solely or primarily for the commercial value of their fur; and for related purposes."
The question of whether the animals are being kept solely or primarily for the commercial value of their fur would be a matter for the courts, and it could be dealt with on the basis of evidence before the courts. I do not seek to define what is kept primarily for that purpose; it is a matter for the courts to decide.
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