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:

• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: Clause 2 - Animals to which the import prohibition relates (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I will keep my comments fairly brief. I was enjoying the debate until the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier) “poked the bear”, so to speak. Let me also say how nice it was to hear from the former leader of the Labour party, the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn). We would like to hear more from him, more frequently. Like the right hon....
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: Clause 2 - Animals to which the import prohibition relates (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I love the way the House is listening carefully to this debate. I can confirm that there is no need to divide the House. This measure is a manifesto commitment and we are fulfilling it. We have improved the Bill and I am tremendously grateful to the Government for their help.
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn.
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: To be fair, I have not used many statistics, because I fully agree with my hon. Friend. This was analysis done on statements made by Members in the debate, myself included. If 70% were factually incorrect or misleading, then who judges that? Obviously, the people to judge it are experts and the experts should be peer reviewed, acknowledged and acceptable to everybody. That is why new clause...
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I am mindful that new clause 4 should not stray beyond what it does, which is to try to get a team of experts to advise the Government, so that my hon. Friend’s valid point is part of the calculation by the Secretary of State. There is public campaigning and lobbying by high-profile actors and celebrities who have very little experience in these matters, and their voices seem to speak...
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s understanding. Unfortunately, it is not quite as straightforward as that. The purpose of the Bill reaches beyond what the UK imports and exports because we already have a permitting system that allows us to manage that, so this is more than that. This is a proper ban. The people who are expected to be on the receiving end are the people who would...
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I will be delighted to give way while I am shuffling my papers.
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his typically helpful intervention, which allowed me to shuffle my papers. I agree with him: the people who are concerned about the topic of this Bill are kind-hearted. They want to make sure that animals are safe and protected, and they have a very good vehicle to express that in the form of the Bill tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley. The...
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend the Minister. She has been about as helpful as any Minister I have ever had the pleasure of working with, and I am sure the whole House will join me in celebrating my ability to not press my amendments, apart from the two that she has just mentioned.
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: It is good to see you in the Chair, Mr Speaker. New clause 1 concerns duration and would cause the Bill’s provisions to cease to have effect five years after it is passed. In 2019, we stood on a manifesto commitment to ban imports from the trophy hunting of endangered animals. I therefore propose that the sunset clause be added for the simple purpose of ensuring that the Act, should it...
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: All of it. One of the problems I will come to in a moment is that, where we are asking people to stop trophy hunting, we are not necessarily replacing that with funding. In one area, which I look looking forward to telling the House about in a moment, we do provide funding, and we are encouraging local people to protect their wildlife and build businesses, particularly for the women, but they...
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: New Clause 1 - Duration of this Act (17 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I have no reason to disagree with that, and it demonstrates what a thorny issue this is. It is worth remembering that this Bill is designed to stop the importing of trophies, rather than prevent the banning of hunting. I have tabled new clause 2 on implementation and monitoring, which is similar to new clause 1 in that its intention is to assess the practicality and effectiveness of the...
• Illegal Migration Bill (7 Mar 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: If moving people to Hereford is the solution, may I welcome everything that my right hon. and learned Friend has said? We British people have rights as well, so can she put her shoulder to the wheel for my constituents, too?
• Prime Minister: Engagements (22 Feb 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I wholeheartedly support my Prime Minister’s priority of stopping the boats, so can he please bring in the small boats Bill next week?
• Knowsley Incident (20 Feb 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: The Minister, the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister are all doing everything they can to stop this sort of incident from happening elsewhere. It must not happen in places such as Herefordshire. Can the Minister explain why the permanent secretary is still in post, and why no small boats Bill has appeared before the House?
• Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 (1 Feb 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: May I say a huge thank you to my right hon. Friend and extend a big, grateful Herefordshire hug to her for this excellent plan? Will she meet me to discuss the Environment Agency’s permitting department, which I believe is struggling, the rivers Lugg and Wye, and how we will deliver through the work that farmers do?
• High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (9 Jan 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: I am sure that the House would be delighted if we took all the motions together, but that is up to you, Mr Deputy Speaker.
• High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (9 Jan 2023)
  Bill Wiggin: Thank you for your kind words, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am sure that my mother would agree with you.
• Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill (25 Nov 2022)
  Bill Wiggin: I am pleased to follow my hon. Friend the Minister. I wish she had explained why, under the current legislation, these animal parts were allowed to be imported in the first place, because a licence is required to bring them in; the legislation is already in place. I recognise that this is an emotionally weighted subject. I have had plenty of emails from well-meaning people with kind hearts...