Achi news desk-
Glue traps are pretty horrible things. Effective, but horrible.
They are generally plastic trays coated with a very strong adhesive designed to trap mice and rats.
Any unsuspecting rodents that walk by are immediately trapped and in most cases cannot free themselves completely.
According to the British Veterinary Association (BVA), those unlucky enough to be caught suffer from “torn skin, severed limbs and hair removal and die a slow and painful death of suffocation, starvation , exhaustion and even self-mutilation”.
They are indiscriminate killers. The RSPCA has warned that birds, hedgehogs and even cats can get stuck.
Animal welfare campaigners have long called for their ban.
Carrie Johnson lobbied her husband Boris to do something when they were still in Number 10.
But it was in 2022 when Tory backbencher Jane Stevenson introduced a Private Members’ Bill that things started to happen.
The Sticky Traps (Crime) Bill received the support of the UK Government and was passed through parliament fairly quickly.
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But, as often happens in legislation, a compromise was needed, with pest managers arguing that there would be some circumstances where the traps might be needed.
One example given during the debate in the House of Commons on the Stevenson Bill was if rodents searched for the cockpit of a jumbo jet before it took off.
Another was if there were mice or rats in a hospital, in a place where no other trap was suitable.
That legislation therefore included provisions for a licensing regime. This would allow ministers to authorize a pest control officer to use a glue trap to catch rodents if it is necessary for health or safety and “no other satisfactory solution is available”.
This new law, which prevents the general public from using traps but not selling them, is due to come into force in England in July.
Up here, there was also a compromise. Possibly prevent panicked mice from crossing the border to hide in our cockpit.
Professional pest managers are allowed to use the traps. However, the sale of traps was banned in the Muirburn (Scotland) Wildlife Management Bill, which was passed by MSPs.
Well, that was the goal.
The difference, the difference between a ban on use and a ban on sale meant that the Scottish Government needed to ask the UK Government for an exemption to the Internal Market Act.
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The post-Brexit framework – which you may remember from previous constitutional clashes including the deposit return scheme – means that goods sold in one part of the UK should be able to be sold in any other part of the UK. UK.
The only way around that is for ministers in Edinburgh (or Cardiff, or Belfast) to ask the permission of ministers in London.
When Defra was asked about the glue traps, Defra said no. They said they “did not consider that the evidence presented showed that a ban on the sale of glue traps would be much more effective than a ban focused on their use and possession”.
That led to Deputy First Minister Shona Robison accusing the UK Government of trying to “effectively overturn a policy approved by the Scottish Parliament”.
“It is a matter for the Scottish Parliament, not UK Government ministers, to judge whether the evidence presented by the Scottish Government merits a particular policy approach in devolved matters,” he added.
As Aileen McHarg, Professor of Public Law and Human Rights, Durham University, noted on X, this was the “first outright rejection of a ban under the UK’s Internal Market Act”.
“As on previous occasions, there appears to be broad agreement on policy aims, but the UK Government appears to be micromanaging the regulatory approach adopted at a devolved level in the interest of maintaining cross-border trade,” he added.
It is worth remembering that most MLAs opposed the IMA when it was introduced in 2020.
The Scottish Government described this as “the most significant and far-reaching attack on devolution”.
The question now is what will happen to the framework when Sir Keir Starmer moves to No 10, as seems likely?
The IMA was also opposed by Labor in Holyrood, Westminster, and crucially in Wales where they are in government. But does Sir Keir have the desire to look again at the IMA and the devolution settlement?
As George Peretz KC writes in his excellent blog about the legal complexities of this, it may sound trivial “but anyone familiar with trade issues, EU law, or indeed the American Revolution will realize the trade disputes that sound trivial can lead to major ones. blow up, not least when they reveal fundamental issues of power and self-determination.”
