§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they can recommend, or undertake, action to prevent or limit the activities of poachers who are poisoning rivers with, for example, cyanide-based pesticides.]
EARL ST. ALDWYNMy Lords, cyanide-based preparations of this kind have long been scheduled poisons under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 and, as such, are obtainable from chemists and from the few manufacturers and wholesalers only under very strict conditions. Ministers have carefully considered whether existing controls at the point of sale are adequate and effective. They have concluded that no further restrictions are possible without serious interference with the business of the many legitimate users of cyanide-based materials in agriculture, industry, research and export. Ministers are also satisfied that the policing of existing controls is quite adequate.
One way of tackling the problem, of course, is to increase the legal deterrents to poaching, and I understand that these are being considered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the context of a possible revision of the salmon and freshwater fisheries legislation.
Finally, the noble Lord may like to know that the Government Departments concerned have recently taken steps to call this misuse of sodium cyanide to the attention of manufacturers, chemists and major users and to stress the need for extra vigilance to prevent its getting in the hands of poachers.
§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, I thank my noble friend, and the 106 Government, for the steps they have taken. If the suggestion in my Question is impracticable, since my noble friend has suggested an alternative, would he welcome a Private Member's Bill to bring English and Welsh penalties into line with Scottish penalties? Then the poachers who are caught may be severely punished.
EARL ST. ALDWYNMy Lords, it is entirely open to my noble friend, as it is to any Member of this House, to introduce a private Bill whenever he feels so inclined. No doubt if my noble friend cares to consult with the Ministry of Agriculture he may receive sympathetic consideration.
§ LORD BALFOUR OF INCHYREMy Lords, in view of the great difference between the penalties imposed by various benches when there is a conviction, would the Government consider circulating to the benches in Britain details with regard to the seriousness of this increased poisoning, stressing the need for severe penalties when convictions are obtained?
EARL ST ALDWYNMy Lords, it is not for the Government to give directives to magistrates, or to press for any kind or degree of penalty to be imposed in particular cases. It is entirely a matter for the courts.
§ LORD LEATHERLANDMy Lords, does not the noble Earl think that the harmonisation of penalties prevailing in Scotland with those prevailing in England and Wales would be in keeping with the policy of one nation which was so recently propounded?