The spectre of Cecil the lion, who died in 2015 after a US dentist paid £35,000 to shoot him with a crossbow, haunted the Commons as MPs passed the ban on hunting imports.
Cecil’s killing in Zimbabwe led to the Mirror’s campaign for a ban on trophy hunting. As the bill went through, environment minister Trudy Harrison was close to tears as she told MPs: “Dare I say that Cecil the lion has not died in vain.
“We are sending a strong message to the rest of the world that in this country, where we can, we are demonstrating our support for endangered species. We do not accept their body parts being used as so-called trophies to be brought back into this country.”
