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MPs spent their last day in Parliament before Christmas plotting a 'hedgehog summit'
MPs spent their last day in Parliament before Christmas plotting a 'hedgehog summit'
Jeremy WilsonDec 17, 2015, 18:38 IST
A hedgehog is seen during a press conference by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to encourage people who own exotic pets like the hedgehog to turn them in during the Exotic Pet Amnesty Program on January 22, 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.The program scheduled for Saturday is an effort to reduce the number of nonnative species being released into the wild by pet owners who can no longer care for their pets or no longer wish to keep them. Amnesty Day events are held around the state to provide the opportunity for people to surrender their nonnative pets free of charge with no penalties.Joe Raedle/Getty Images
British lawmakers have spent their last day in Parliament before they break up for Christmas engaging in some light-hearted banter about hedgehogs. It all started when Conservative MP Oliver Colvile invited Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Lizz Truss to meet him for a "hedgehog summit" to discuss the construction of a "hedgehog superhighway."
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Colvile: Whilst badgers are responsible for the spread of bovine TB as I understand it, they are no friend of the hedgehog. On Monday, our Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government rejected my and the Times' call for a hedgehog superhighway through back gardens. Will my Right Honourable friend be willing to meet with myself and the British hedgehogs preservation society for a hedgehog summit?
Truss: Well, can I congratulate my honourable friend on his fantastic campaign and also the Times, for raising this vital issue. I want hedgehogs too, to have a very happy Christmas. And I'm very willing to meet with my honourable friend and the hedgehog preservation trust to see what we can do to ensure we have good population of hedgehogs in the future.
The Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow followed Truss by called for "hedgehogs of the world unite and fight!"
