§ Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the rebate on cartridges for the organised shooting of harmful birds is to be continued.
§ Mr. John HareThis subsidy is open to abuse. The Secretary of State for Scotland and I do not consider that we should be justified in continuing it after the end of March. Nevertheless, we hope that shooting will continue to be used as a control measure, and we are discussing with the agricultural interests concerned the possibility of extending the scope of grants to Rabbit Clearance Societies to include expenses incurred in shooting certain harmful birds, such as wood-pigeons.