Business of the House

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt), this is a terrible crime, and the Government are taking measures to help tackle it better, with more than 6,600 additional police officers. I join my hon. Friend in thanking Alison Hernandez for her terrific work as police and crime commissioner, and for highlighting this important issue. It is worth adding to my earlier remarks, that if someone causes an animal to suffer in the course of stealing it from its owner, they are liable for prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill is currently in the House of Lords. If passed, it will increase the maximum penalty for such a crime to five years, which would be the highest penalty for animal cruelty in Europe. There is the risk of seven years in prison for pet theft, and five years for cruelty to animals. The penalties are there—or will be if the House of Lords obliges—and this is a question of enforcement and catching wrongdoers. That is where the extra 6,600 police will help.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab) [V]]

The Leader of the House will be aware, as we all are, of a number of hospital rebuilds in the pipeline, one of which—Whipps Cross Hospital—is in my constituency. Those rebuilds are welcome across the House, but there are also concerns that a number of the projects imply reductions in bed numbers. Particularly after the pandemic, that seems to me, and to many other Members, very misguided. Indeed, people were saying that even before the pandemic. When Parliament returns, may we have a statement from the Health and Social Care Secretary on bed numbers in hospital rebuilds?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman is pleased by the hospital rebuilds programme, and he raises a serious and important point. My right hon. Friend the Health and Social Care Secretary will be at the Dispatch Box shortly, and that question could be raised with him in an intervention. I will pass on the point to my right hon. Friend after this statement, and try to get the hon. Gentleman an answer regarding what is the policy, and what has been learned from the pandemic.