WHALING

That this House notes with concern the powerful onslaught against an international ban on whaling being organised by Japan and supported by Iceland and Norway; recognises that a removal of the ban could lead to the humpback whale becoming extinct, as only 10,000 of the species exist; deplores the tactics used by the Japanese government to gain support for the removal of the ban from Caribbean and African nations through the use of aid; and calls on the UK Government to work with European nations strongly to oppose any moves to relax the rules which protect whales at the International Whaling Commission meeting on 28th May in Alaska.