North Herefordshire MP accused of bid to ‘wreck’ hunting trophy bill

North Herefordshire MP Sir Bill Wiggin has been accused of inserting a “wrecking amendment” into a Bill aimed at stopping big-game hunting “trophies” being imported into Britain.

The Commons will vote tomorrow (Friday 17 March) on the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, which has the backing of the Government and is supported by celebrities including Gary Lineker, Joanna Lumley, Charles Dance and explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

The resulting law will prevent British hunters bringing back body parts of around 7,000 species including lions, rhinos, elephants and polar bears.

Sir Bill’s amendment would exclude such trophies that were “obtained in a way that contributed to conservation schemes”.

But Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting founder Eduardo Goncalves called this a “wrecking amendment” which would render the bill “worthless”.

According to the campaign, Sir Bill’s amendment is based on one which the American hunting lobby persuaded the US government to adopt, which enables hunters to continue to shoot black rhinos and other endangered species.

It points out that the proposal “was in 2019 election manifestos, four Queen’s Speeches, and has been promised by a succession of Prime Ministers and Ministers”, and has the support of nine out of ten voters.

However the UK high commissions of Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Botswana issued a joint statement this week in favour of hunting “sustainably”.

A further 26 amendments to the bill have been tabled by Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope.

Mr Goncalves also feared the Bill could fail to pass into law due to large numbers of MPs returning early to their constituencies ahead of the weekend, and urged party whips to ensure a “quorate” number are present for the vote.

Sir Bill told the Commons in November during a reading of the Bill that “telling Africans how to manage their wildlife is fundamentally wrong, post-colonial and possibly racist”.