A three-day public consultation on hunting with live TV coverage is planned for September
Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael is planning to hold three televised days of public consultation on the hunting issue in September.
The proposed dates are 9, 10 and 11 September, and live TV coverage is expected to be provided on the BBC Parliamentary satellite channel – number 508 on the Sky package. It is hoped that further coverage will be provided on the Internet.
This goes much further than the “open consultations” expected, and would appear to be the first time that a wider government consultation has received this degree of openness.
It is ahuge opportunity for the hunting community to put its case, with the general public as witness. The more convincingly the case is explained in the glare of a national spotlight, the more difficult it will be for a government to produce a bill to ban or strangle the sport.
Alun Michael will chair the hearings – likely to be held at Portcullis House in the Palace of Westminster, with the permission of the Speaker of the Commons.
The subjects of utility, alleged cruelty and possible ways to implement legislation are each to receive a full day’s hearing. Public attendance will be limited by ticket, but press and TV will enable millions more to follow proceedings.
Three main bodies are being invited to put up expert witnesses to give evidence, which will be open to cross-examination: the Countryside Alliance, the Middle Way Group, and the Campaign for the Hunted Animal.
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