CRUELTY OF WHALING

Early day motion 894, tabled 23 March 2004 by Lindsay Hoyle (Labour). Signed by 99 members.

That this House expresses its dismay at the cruelty involved with whale hunting; notes that the most common form of killing method involves a harpoon with explosive grenades which explode after the harpoon has penetrated the whale skin and kills the animal with shock waves; recognises that this practice takes two minutes to kill a whale and is not always successful leaving whales injured; highlights the report by the World Society for the Protection of Animals on this subject which concludes that there is no humane way to kill a whale; and calls on the Government to work with its international partners through the International Whaling Commission to ban all whale hunting.

Signatures by party: Labour 59, Liberal Democrat 17, Conservative 9, Labour/Co-operative 8, Scottish National Party 3, Plaid Cymru 2, DUP 1.