Bill in Parliament

Bill’s recent appearances in Parliament appear below. You can find out more about the debates in question by clicking on the titles:

  • Prime Minister: Engagements ( 1 May 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: My right hon. Friend’s decision to cancel HS2 led to £207 million for Herefordshire’s potholes and transport infrastructure; Hereford hospital has a new ward, more beds and a new diagnostic centre on the way; £35 million has been allocated to the River Wye recovery plan; inflation is down; the Rwanda Bill has been passed; and defence spending is increasing. Does my right hon. Friend...
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: Object!
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: When that Bill reached the House of Lords, no peer stepped forward to sponsor it. Why did no Labour peer do so?
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: rose—
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: I am most grateful—sorry, I was a little slow to intervene. As always, my hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. The purpose of the amendments is to ensure that we take any risk of racism away from this legislation, because at the end of the day, we are united in wanting better conservation.
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: The Canadian Government have not written to object—it is the African countries that object to this. I hope that was clear from what I said earlier.
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: The one thing that unites the House is that we all want to see successful conservation, but this Bill has always been about racism and neocolonialism. This Bill is questioned by science and by African countries. If anybody, no matter how much they think they love animals, is thinking about writing to me or contacting me about trophy hunting, I insist that they seriously consider what African...
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: I am in the middle of a quote, but I think the President will forgive me for allowing the hon. Gentleman to intervene.
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: If I did not respect the House, I would not have bothered to turn up today, so I do not think that is a valid point. We must consider how we would feel if Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa or Zimbabwe were legislating on what we do here. Awkwardly for the hon. Gentleman, we are not banning trophy hunting in the UK. We are targeting CITES-listed species, but we do not seem to...
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: The African countries find it appalling that British politicians show no concern for the African lives threatened by these animals. They are furious with the virtue-signalling proposals, which lack scientific credibility. Time and again, they return with the facts and they are completely ignored by hon. Members in this debate. I will come on to what Oxford University said about the facts and...
  • Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (22 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: It would make enough difference for the hon. Gentleman to turn up for the debate, and for me to do so. It would also make enough difference for all the representatives of those southern African countries who care about the creatures that we all purport to care about to say that the Bill is wrong. In fact, they said: “If income streams from trophy hunting were substantially reduced—as...
  • Prime Minister: Herefordshire Council: Children’s Services (20 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: Whether the Government plan to intervene in the running of children’s services by Herefordshire Council.
  • Prime Minister: Herefordshire Council: Children’s Services (20 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: I thank my right hon. Friend for taking this terrible situation so seriously. The permanent secretary at the Department for Education visited Hereford recently, so he will know that the new Conservative council is trying to mend the damage done by the previous Green and independent authority to far too many young people and their families. As a father, does my right hon. Friend agree that...
  • Budget Resolutions - Income Tax (Charge) (11 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will keep this as brief as I can. This Budget demonstrates the decisions that the Government have taken since 2010 that have allowed 800 jobs to be created every day for 14 years—and there is a self-respect that people get with a job. The furlough scheme protected 11.7 million of those jobs. Job creation and preservation means that we do not need to take...
  • Farming ( 4 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed), although I suspect that he has more customers or consumers in his constituency than farmers. In North Herefordshire, we have 1,715 of probably the best farmers in the world. [Interruption.] Oh, no, there’s no doubt about that. The joy of Herefordshire is that we grow every crop that the UK produces; whether it is...
  • Farming ( 4 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: I definitely agree that it is a disaster, and it is the cost per animal killed that would have put the abattoir owner out of business. That happened in my constituency as well. One of the biggest problems is that the burden is too high. Of course, for Gower lamb, Hereford beef or any of the wonderful things that are killed and processed locally, without the abattoir those animals have to...
  • Farming ( 4 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: I am delighted to say not only that I am aware of the portable—or mobile—abattoir, but that a model of it appeared in my house for me to have a look at, courtesy of one of the people supporting the initiative. That is why a more sensible, practical and affordable veterinary inspection regime is what is needed. Then, we could have the mobile abattoirs back.
  • Farming ( 4 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: Indeed, but the mobile abattoir did not require planning because it was mobile, and cleanliness and hygiene are essential for confidence in human consumption. However, there is at least some margin for improvement on the veterinary bit. When I looked into slaughtering through that particular abattoir, the cost was very high because of the veterinary inspection rather than the other things,...
  • Farming ( 4 Mar 2024)
    Bill Wiggin: I would be delighted to give way to the man with the answer on abattoirs.