Stuart Anderson

My right hon. Friend raises a brilliant point. There are so many good things that can be done on animal welfare, but a trail hunting ban is not one of them. Let us look at the facts that support trail hunting and at the incidents over the years. From 2004 to 2023, there were 44 convictions involving trail hunting, and there were 250,000 organised hunt days in that time. That is one conviction for every 5,680 trail hunting days. If there was one hunt a day, it would take 15 years to get a conviction. That is a serious statistic. The Government do not like trail hunting and they do not like the people who participate in trail hunting, so they want to ban it. Based on those statistics, they should not ban anything, because the stats do not support the idea that there is widespread criminality in trail hunting. There is no evidence of that at all. I am clear: if anybody breaks the law, they should be prosecuted. There will be a huge impact on farriers, vets and other people. Can the Minister let me know who is going to pick up the bill for fallen stock? That is a massive impact that will fall on farmers. Trail hunting is supported in South Shropshire, but I get that some constituents will not support it—that is fine. If anybody wants to see what people are doing about animal welfare, they should go to my Facebook page and look at my post about it issue this morning. What people are saying in defending animal welfare is absolutely brutal, and I do not support that. Trail hunting is a key part of life in South Shropshire. I will stand up for it, and for shotgun licence holders, and it should continue. These rural pursuits are part of my community.