Oral Answers to Questions

Kenny MacAskill Excerpts

Wednesday 10th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kenny MacAskill (East Lothian) (SNP) [V]]

East Lothian prides itself on its food and drink sector, which is gravely threatened by reduced standards in animal welfare and production. The Government failed to enshrine protections in the Agriculture Bill, and earlier this week Ministers equivocated on the issue; will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to be clear today that high standards will be protected, a food standards commission will be established, and we will not face chlorinated chicken on our table, along with Kentucky fried medicine in our hospitals?

[The Prime Minister]

Not only will we protect animal welfare standards but, on leaving the EU, as we have, we will be able to increase our animal welfare standards. We will be able to ban the treatment of farrowing sows that is currently legal in the EU, and we will be able to ban the shipment of live animals, which currently we cannot ban in the UK. We will be able to go further and better, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman supports that. By the way, I also hope that he will tell all his friends in the—SNP, is it?—SNP that that is one of the reasons why their plan to take Scotland back into the EU would be completely contrary to the instincts of the British people.