Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill

Debate between Mark Spencer and Heather Wheeler

2nd reading
Friday 15th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank the right hon. Lady for that intervention, and I know the Minister will reply fully later.

[The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries (Mark Spencer)]

indicated assent.

[Mrs Wheeler]

The Minister is nodding as I say that.

The stipulations in this Bill are clear and will be effective. It will ban the import of puppies, kittens and ferrets under the age of six months, ensuring that they are not taken from their mothers too young and, crucially, that they are old enough to travel safely, potentially for long distances. It will ban the import of heavily pregnant dogs, cats and ferrets, to which the same concerns apply. It will ban the importation of dogs and cats that have been mutilated by having their tails docked or ears cropped or, in the case of cats, by having been declawed, all of which are extremely painful procedures. Most crucially, it will reduce the number of animals that can travel under the non-commercial rules from five in the vehicle to three. That closes a loophole currently being exploited by many unscrupulous traders—[Interruption.] I am nearly finished, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The Bill will significantly disrupt the methods of pet smugglers and their activities, and will help prevent low animal welfare breeding operations from supplying the Great Britain pet market. It will give owners the assurance that the dogs, cats and ferrets they are buying and allowing into their families have not been sourced illegally nor treated inhumanely. That is undoubtedly a good thing and should be celebrated.

What is crucial is that the Bill removes the suffering of those animals; it must never be allowed to be turned into profit by those who are breaking the law. The situation is tragic, and I fully commend the Bill to the House. I hope all colleagues on both sides of the House are willing to do the same. If we wish to maintain our position as a leader on animal welfare, which we pride ourselves on, it is crucial that this Bill becomes law as soon as possible. I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Devon for introducing it. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me so early. It is much appreciated.

UK Coal Operations Ltd

Debate between Mark Spencer and Heather Wheeler

Wednesday 6th November 2013 Westminster Hall

[Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

I am grateful for your compliment, Mr Hollobone. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Mansfield (Sir Alan Meale) for calling this most important debate. While I am doing my thank yous, I should also thank the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, which has been active in pursuing this issue and is based in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency.

Before we get to concessionary coal, it is worth reflecting on where we are and how we got here. We could be debating the tragic loss of 2,000 jobs, not only in my constituency but also at Kellingley colliery in Yorkshire, and that would be an entirely different debate. That loss has caused enormous financial distress in my constituency and in other parts of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.

It is worth giving credit to the Minister for his work and support when the Daw Mill colliery caught fire and the pit got into difficulty. It is also worth paying tribute to the work of the Minister without Portfolio, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), who was the Minister’s predecessor and who played an active role. It was a tragic position with enormous financial pressure on UK Coal. There was a moment when I worried that we were about to lose all those jobs, and the implications of that would have been enormous. Thankfully, with the support of the ministerial team and the work of UK Coal and a number of others, we were able to secure those jobs.

We should reflect on the implications for those who find they are losing the benefits they have built up. I hesitate to use the word “benefits”, because the hon. Gentleman said we should not call them that, but the scheme was part of the terms and conditions of working down a colliery. It was not only a perk, but part of the employment contract. While working in a pit, the person could see that their family was secured for life for energy provision.

The Government often say that we should support hard-working people who do the right thing, and no career is harder than working in a coal mine. Anyone who has had the opportunity to go down a mine will understand how difficult and hard the work is. These people worked hard and they did the right thing. We have a moral obligation to assist those who worked in the mines, as well as their spouses who might be widowed and find themselves under enormous pressure. As my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Heather Wheeler) pointed out, many of these people have coal-fired central heating systems, and the financial cost of moving to another energy source and installing a gas boiler is way beyond their means.

I had the opportunity to go round to some of my constituents with Newark and Sherwood Homes, which is a local authority housing provider. Some of its tenants use the free coal to heat their homes. Newark and Sherwood Homes said that it had given some of its tenants the opportunity to change to gas-fired central heating at the cost of the housing provider, but one of the tenants said to me that he did not want to do that, because his whole lifestyle revolved around getting out of bed in the morning, lighting the fire and heating his water. His reason for getting out of bed in the morning was to light that fire. To understand how these things operate, people have to live in a coalfield community.

[Heather Wheeler]

I put on the record again that some of my villages do not have gas, so they do not have another way to heat their properties. If we could change them to gas, I am sure that we would have done. I thank my hon. Friend for stressing that it is a lifestyle choice for some people, but for others there is no choice.

[Mr Spencer]

I am grateful for that intervention. We are fortunate in north Nottinghamshire to have gas to most properties, but some of my constituents will be in the same position, and it is worth making that valid point.

While I have the floor, I will abuse your good will, Mr Hollobone, to a certain degree. I draw attention to the future and how we will move forward in this fantastic industry. I am conscious that Thoresby colliery, in my constituency, has a lifespan that will end sometime between 2016 and 2018. We need to think about how we will accommodate those employees and continue to provide our great nation with home-produced coal.

Just over the border in the constituency of my neighbour, the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann), is Harworth colliery, which is currently mothballed. I hope that the Government are considering how to reopen it at some point, if it becomes economically viable, and I will continue to discuss that with the Minister.

I implore the Minister to continue to talk to the Treasury about how to accommodate people in this very difficult position. I know that he has given the matter great thought. I hope we can soon accommodate those hard-working people who have done the right thing and should be supported by the Government.