Harvey’s Law

Debate between Baroness Bray of Coln and John Hayes

Monday 2nd March 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr Hayes]

The right hon. Gentleman is an experienced Member of the House. He will know that a mandatory contract is what it says it is: mandatory. We must act immediately; I want no further delay. As the shadow Minister said, there is no need for a protracted review. The matter is straightforward, and the last thing I want is to have to wait for a legislative vehicle so that we can amend the law. We have an election coming and would have to wait for the Queen’s Speech; the right hon. Member for Knowsley will know, as will other experienced Members, that that business could become protracted, even for such a relatively straightforward measure. I just want to get on with it. The shadow Minister asked, perfectly properly, whether the changes would be mandatory, and the answer is yes.

[Mr Philip Hollobone in the Chair]

[Angie Bray]

It is a pleasure to hear my right hon. Friend the Minister responding so positively to everything that has been said this afternoon. He will be aware that some of us who represent London constituencies might have to discuss the issue with City Hall, because, rather than the Highways Agency, Transport for London is responsible for some of the main roads that go through the capital. Has my right hon. Friend had any discussions with Transport for London? Are there useful discussions to be had about the Government’s approach to the issue? What does he recommend that those of us who represent London constituencies do to ensure that pets and owners are treated with the respect that they deserve?

[Mr Hayes]

With her usual perspicacity, my hon. Friend anticipates the final commitment that I wish to offer. The Highways Agency is of course responsible for large roads—the key arterial routes—but it is my estimation that the majority of fatalities among cats and dogs are on local roads. The Highways Agency looks after our motorways and major trunk roads, but I believe that we can go further. Following this debate, I intend not only to communicate with Transport for London but to write to all local highways authorities throughout the country to draw their attention to the Government’s position and invite them to reflect on their own local policy. That would not only take us back to where we were in respect of the mandatory obligation to collect, record and notify owners; it would take us further than we have ever been if we were able to bring about a circumstance whereby we were doing the right thing on roads throughout the country.

I was describing Dickens’ claim that there is no greater love than the love of a cat or dog, which brings me, finally, to Hemingway. He is not one of my favourite writers—that might be for political reasons—but he did sum up what I said at the start of this debate about why animals have the effect on us that they do. He was speaking of cats, but he might well have been speaking of dogs too, when he said:

“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not”,

and dogs do not either. Today, Members have not hidden their feelings, and neither should they have. I am a Minister who never hides my feelings.