Animal Welfare Strategy

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Thursday 18th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Reynolds]

I could not agree more. I was not a Member of this House during the last Labour Government, but as a proud Labour member, I am proud that that Government banned foxhunting. I reiterate what my hon. Friend says: those who engage in this illegal practice should face the full force of the law.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker. I thank the Secretary of State for her comments.

Let me mention something that we would like the animal welfare strategy to focus on. The Veterinary Surgeons Act was passed in 1966, and a lot has changed since then. More than 60% of veterinary practices are now owned by corporates; they used to be owned by individual veterinary surgeons. Medical care for animals is now provided by a whole range of para-professionals, including equine dental technicians, cattle hoof trimmers and animal physiotherapists, who are all unregulated. We also have very highly trained veterinary nurses, but the title of veterinary nurse is not protected.

I urge the Government to make updating the Veterinary Surgeons Act a centrepiece of their animal welfare strategy. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the British Veterinary Association and the veterinary profession are calling for that. It would be good for owners, good for animals, and good for the veterinary profession, so I urge the Government to make that a key component of the strategy.

I am really excited about the fact that now that I am an MP, I will not be on call for Christmas, as I have been many times. I remind everyone not to feed their dogs mince pies and chocolate, and not to let them get hold of onion gravy, as that is what keeps us really, really busy at Christmas.

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[Emma Reynolds]

I can confirm that. As I said earlier, measures are already in place to provide funding to farmers to help them improve animal welfare standards. Those measures include veterinary visits to help them continue to improve their animal welfare standards.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Father of the House.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

We have some of the best animal welfare standards for farm animals in the world. Of course, we can do much by regulation, but the best way to protect farm animals is to have contented and prosperous family farmers who love their animals and care for them. When I arrived in the House, farmers used to talk in glowing terms about Tom Williams, the Labour Minister for agriculture in the Attlee Government, who started 80 years of prosperity for our farmers. I beg the Secretary of State and the Minister, if they are really concerned about animal welfare and the welfare of our farmers, to drop the absurd family farm tax.

[Johanna Baxter (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (Lab)]

Merry Christmas to you, Mr Speaker, and to everyone across the House. I reiterate what colleagues from across the Chamber have said about the importance of reforming the Veterinary Surgeons Act. It is 60 years old and has not kept pace with modern medicine, new technology or the way that veterinary practices are run. Will my right hon. Friend set out how the animal welfare strategy will tackle the extraordinary increase in veterinary fees, which is a massive cost of living issue? Finally, I thank veterinary surgeons across the UK, particularly those at Glasgow University’s veterinary hospital, who I had cause to see rather more frequently than I would have liked this year.

[Mr Speaker]

Those cats need feeding! Come on, Secretary of State.

[Emma Reynolds]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think you have much in common with my hon. Friend. I thank her for her doughty campaigning on this issue. The work we are doing on the Veterinary Surgeons Act is separate from the animal welfare strategy, but as we have discussed privately, that work is ongoing.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

I feel I should declare an interest, Mr Speaker, in that Mrs Carmichael will be one of those veterinary surgeons who will be on call on Christmas Day this year. It will be me in the kitchen, yet again. [Interruption.] That’s fine; it keeps the turkeys safe, at least. Just 10 days ago, Baroness Hayman told us that we would get the strategy before Christmas. Publishing it next week is, I suppose, strictly within the letter of that, but it is not quite within the spirit. The Department seems to be struggling a bit with its strategies at the moment. Our Select Committee had an excellent session with the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle), but as soon as she was out the door, no fewer than four fisheries management strategies landed in my inbox. As a new year’s resolution, will the Secretary of State look at how these things are handled, so that this House can scrutinise future strategies?

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[Emma Reynolds]

I have ordered my meat from my local butcher already. It is a bit late in the day, but I thank my hon. Friend for the reminder to those who may not have done so already. We want to make sure that there is transparency, and we are working on labelling. It will not be part of this strategy, but we are looking at it separately.

[Mr Speaker]

I have put my order in at Booths and the local butcher!

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

We are indeed a nation of animal lovers, yet every year 200,000 sows are kept in farrowing crates where they cannot even turn around, while millions of hens are kept in tiny spaces no bigger than an A4 piece of paper. Those are cruel, cramped conditions that cause a short life of pain and suffering. Following the recent cross-party letter that I initiated, will the Secretary of State confirm that the animal welfare strategy will include an end to the cruel use of farrowing crates and cages and, importantly, support for farmers through this transition so that people can have confidence in so-called welfare-assured systems?