Ministers are pressing ahead with long-awaited plans to ban imports of gruesome trophy hunting souvenirs.
The move marks a victory in the Sunday Mirror’s campaign to outlaw the sick trade in lion and elephant body parts.
The Tories had promised the law in their 2019 manifesto but it failed to appear in the Queen’s Speech last month.
Campaigners feared a backstairs campaign by Tory hunt supporters had knocked it off the agenda.
But ministers are now backing a Private Member’s Bill by Conservative MP Henry Smith.
He said: “Trophy hunting is barbaric and something the British public rightly finds repugnant. This Bill is supported by the Government and by opposition MPs alike and will put an end to these horrendous activities.”
The Crawley MP’s Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill will ban people from bringing body parts of endangered and vulnerable animals into the UK, including rhinos, cheetahs and reindeer.
Normally, attempts by MPs to make laws fall by the wayside.
But this week, Environment Secretary George Eustice and campaigners will mark the introduction of the Bill with a series
of events in the Commons.
They coincide with the seventh anniversary of Cecil the lion’s death. He was killed by a trophy hunting US dentist in Zimbabwe.
Mr Smith added: “Getting the Environment Secretary’s endorsement, along with other Government ministers, is fantastic and a real boost to finally outlawing this appalling practice.”
Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, added: “This really is a huge step forward for the campaign. We are on the brink of a historic victory for animals.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
said: “The Government is committed to one of the toughest bans in the world on the import of hunting trophies and welcomes the Bill, led by Henry Smith, that will deliver this.”
