Animal Welfare (Kept Animals)

Jane Stevenson Excerpts

Wednesday 21st June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jane Stevenson (Wolverhampton North East) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman will know that no animal has been exported for many years now and the Government are committed to putting that into law. My question is on puppy smuggling—Lucy’s law. I was honoured to meet Lucy, the Cavalier spaniel, and I have two Cavalier spaniels. This Government have done an amazing amount to clamp down on puppy farms. Puppy smuggling is a separate issue. I have received repeated reassurances that the Government are making time and their method—private Members’ Bills—is going to make this legislation happen more quickly, saving more animals. Political game playing on something so sensitive is irresponsible.

[Jim McMahon]

To be absolutely clear, this is not the Labour party framing our own motion and own draft Bill, and bringing it to the House and trying to bounce the Conservative Government. This is a Government manifesto commitment and a Government Bill—word for word, sentence by sentence. There is nothing to disagree with. Let us be clear as well that it passed on Second Reading. It is not as though we are starting from scratch; it passed on Second Reading unanimously with support from Members on all sides of the House.

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[Trudy Harrison]

I will just make some more progress.

We have banned third-party puppy and kitten sales through Lucy’s law, introduced protections for service animals through Finn’s law, introduced offences for horse fly-grazing and abandonment, introduced new community order powers to address dog issues, provided valuable new protections for wild animals by banning wild animals in travelling circuses, given the police additional powers to tackle hare coursing, and banned glue traps. That is an important list, and it goes on.

[Jane Stevenson]

I want to reassure Opposition Members and my constituents that private Members’ Bills are extremely efficient. I received extremely good support from the Government while putting through my private Member’s Bill to get a ban on glue traps—[Interruption.] Perhaps Opposition Members might learn something if they listen. I am very pleased that Wales and Scotland followed, too. That Bill became law two years ago, if Opposition Members care to look it up in the House of Commons Library. Does the Minister agree that private Members’ Bills will enable this proposed legislation to come in more quickly, and will she reassure my constituents that, on things like pet theft, including the theft of cats, we can see real progress?

[Trudy Harrison]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. To support enforcement, we recently supported private Members’ Bills to pave the way for penalty notices to be applied to animal welfare offences. At this point, I want to make particular reference to my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Rebecca Harris). It is due to her sterling work on sitting Fridays that so many private Member’s Bills have been successful and enacted swiftly.

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[Patricia Gibson]

People will read little about what I have just said in the media, but the Scottish Government are absolutely committed to the highest animal welfare standards, indeed exceeding EU regulations.

[Jane Stevenson]

rose—

[Patricia Gibson]

The UK Government’s work compares very poorly with the excellent work being done in Scotland, but where we in Scotland are reliant on the UK Government, in reserved areas, we are held back. Of course, that extends way beyond animal welfare, but I will not go into that.

I recall the nonsense we were told during the Brexit campaign about how Brexit would allow improved animal welfare standards, even outstripping EU standards, because we would be liberated to move at a faster pace of improvement. But this Government cannot move beyond that—they cannot even move beyond the width of their own Back Benchers. They are terrified of their own Members.