Fur Farming (Prohibition) (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (Hansard, 16 December 2002)

§ Lord Glentoran
My Lords, I support the Motion.

§ Lord Shutt of Greetland
My Lords, I am happy to support the proposals.

§ Lord Laird
My Lords, I begin by making an obvious point, which applies to the five remaining Northern Ireland orders before us. The subject matter of the orders was being dealt with by the Northern Ireland Assembly, prior to its suspension. I imagine that all of your Lordships would prefer that it was still being dealt with by the MLAs. However, I know that your Lordships will be aware that only the republican movement can return us to that situation, by bringing about the necessary acts of completion so craved by the vast majority of people in the Province.
513 Turning to the order, I can report that my Ulster Unionist colleagues in the Assembly had one principal complaint about the legislation, when it was before them in the form of a Bill—namely, the compensation of those affected by the ban on fur farming. I am pleased to say that that difficulty was subsequently resolved by an amendment, which is included in the order at Article 5(4). Given that, I am happy to support the order.

§ Lord Hylton
My Lords, even when we considered the Bill—now an Act—affecting England and Wales, it was obscure to me why fur farming should be considered to be in any way more cruel than the farming of animals for other purposes. On those grounds—whatever the vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly—there may be a case for not insisting on complete uniformity throughout the United Kingdom.

§ Lord Monson
My Lords, I agree with my noble friend Lord Hylton to some extent, although not necessarily on the point about conformity. Like my noble friend, I queried and opposed the Bill relating to England and Wales, as it went through the House.
A vegan could support the order with a clear conscience. As I understand it, most vegans believe that it is wrong for man to kill or exploit animals for any purpose. I do not agree with that philosophy, but I respect it. I respect also the logical consistency of the vegan position. However, it beats me how any carnivore can support such an illiberal order. After all, it is a matter of total indifference to an animal being killed whether it is being killed for food, clothing, footwear, sport, medical research, cosmetic research or military research. All that is important, from the point of the view of the animal, is that death should be as painless and as quick as possible.
Obviously, neither my noble friend nor I will be able to budge the Government tonight. However, I must ask the noble and learned Lord the Lord Privy Seal whether the Northern Ireland Assembly—if and when it sits again—could restore the status quo, if it changed its mind and wished to do so. I presume that it could, but it would be good to have confirmation.

§ Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, I will check that, although that question was not uppermost in my mind. I was sorry to see that my noble friend Lord Fitt was not in his place, when the noble Lord spoke of vegans. He would have wanted us to ask, "Are you a Roman Catholic vegan or a Protestant vegan?".
As the noble Lord, Lord Laird, said, the matter was fully debated and supported by everyone because of the amendment that the Ulster Unionists obtained. Notionally, the Assembly might be able to change its mind; practically, I doubt that it would wish to do so.