Animal Welfare Strategy for England

Will Stone Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Samantha Niblett]

I did not know that fact, and I am really grateful to my hon. Friend for sharing it. One of the challenges is the lack of profit in farming. I welcome the fact that the Labour Government have committed to help our farmers to become more profitable. One pence per egg sounds very little, but it has a heavy impact on farmers’ productivity and profitability.

Similarly, we must listen carefully to farmers when considering how to move away from the use of farrowing crates for sows. While the crates are designed to protect piglets against being crushed, they also significantly restrict the sows’ movement and raise serious welfare concerns.

For many animal lovers, perhaps the most challenging part of the strategy is the issue of slaughter, even for those of us who eat meat. I will give a trigger warning now, because I am going to talk about things that might upset a few people.

Each year, just over 1 billion meat chickens are reared and slaughtered in the UK. I agree with the Government that all animals should be spared avoidable pain and distress at the point of killing, while also respecting the right of people to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. For example, a significant proportion of halal meat comes from animals that are stunned before slaughter to render them unconscious and insensible to pain. Slaughtermen are required to check for signs of consciousness between stunning and death. Certification bodies, such as the Halal Food Authority, enforce the standards through regular audits and inspections, combining ancient principles with modern safeguards. However, “a significant proportion” does not mean all animals, and I understand and share the concerns of those who are worried about the percentage that are not stunned before slaughter.

On the difficult subject of end of life for animals, I was grateful to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation for inviting me to a game dinner last November. I feel far more comfortable eating meat from animals that have lived a full life in open spaces in our beautiful Derbyshire countryside, and whose deaths were carried out swiftly by trained conservationists who play a key role in conservation, pest control and habitat management. I am grateful to those who help to manage our countryside and parks responsibly and humanely, even for animals we do not eat, such as grey squirrels that damage young trees.

To turn back to pets, I met vets Kathryn and Kieran Patel back in October—

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

We have seen a dramatic increase in the price of vet bills over the past couple of years. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need better regulation, more transparency and to bring bills down for our constituents?

[Samantha Niblett]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, who picked the right moment because I was just about to address that issue. I met vets Kathryn and Keiran Patel in October at their newly opened independent practice in Bretby. They would like the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to be updated. They shared with me concerning insights about how a small number of large corporates dominate the sector, particularly in relation to fees and prescription charges.

In December, the Competition and Markets Authority published the provisional findings of its investigation of veterinary services for household pets, and it identified competition concerns. Many pet owners would welcome clearer pricing for common services, capped prescription charges and transparency around practice ownership. That said, the broader challenges facing veterinary practices and the cost pressures on pet owners deserve a debate in their own right. My good hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter) has been doing a huge amount of work in this space.

My constituent, David Llewellyn of Walton-on-Trent, is a strong advocate for reforming the regulations around puppy farming. I am delighted that our manifesto committed to ending puppy farming and puppy smuggling.

--- Later in debate ---

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett) for securing this fantastic debate. My inbox is regularly more full of animal welfare issues than anything else. I have been contacted by residents such as Becky Wood, who invited me to her home to visit her rehomed donkeys and chickens and taste her vegan brownies, and many others who are really pleased to see this animal welfare strategy but are impatient for action to follow.

I welcome the commitment to reform the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. I will leave it to other Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), who have expertise in this matter, to talk about that, but I want to make a plea on behalf of pets who are too old to insure or whose families simply cannot afford the premiums. My constituent Vivenne told me that

“the whole business model appears to be set up to milk insurance companies but the ones who cannot insure their dogs have to find the ever increasing costs themselves. We will always find the funds as it is not our rescue dogs’ fault that they both need care but we object to being unfairly ‘fleeced’.”

Concerns have been raised by vets in my constituency about their ability to operate alongside huge corporations. Given the changing landscape for our country, I hope that that will be treated with the urgency that it deserves.

Many vets work in cattle and farming, and I welcome the proposal about caged animals and male chicks. My brother Spencer’s first holiday job in the 1980s was on a battery chicken farm. I do not think that any of us had any idea what that was, but I recall him lasting just a matter of days there, because the brutality of the place and the overwhelming stench of ammonia led to the very swift decision that he simply could not work there.

[Will Stone]

Speaking about farming, my friend Kyle is opening up a company called Hoxton Farms, which is developing lab-grown meat. I invite everyone in the Chamber to come along in March to our open day and give it a try.

[Vikki Slade]

I have to say that that makes me feel a little queasy, but perhaps I will push my own boundaries.

Living on the edge of the countryside, seeing cows and sheep is an everyday occurrence that helps us to understand where our food comes from, and we are all used to mammals in our homes. Fish and sea creatures, however, do not have the same association, despite the very hard work of Pixar in bringing Nemo and Dory to life.

My daughter Abbi is a Young Dragon, a sea kayak ambassador and expedition leader. On her trips around the islands of Scotland and elsewhere, she has witnessed fish farms that are beyond the sight of most people. She described the water as being almost solid with fish. She explained that disease can spread fast when insufficient space is provided, and she shared her deep concern about the risk that poorly managed fish farms can have a detrimental effect on the wider ecosystem. I welcome the commitment to improve fish welfare, but can the Minister confirm if that will go beyond the nets and fences of the fish farms?

There are many more issues that I would love to talk about: speeding up the end of animal testing to deliver a truly cruelty-free UK, the absence of a ban on trophy hunting imports in the animal welfare strategy, and the consistent refusal, despite my many questions in Parliament and in writing, to make wildlife crimes notifiable. It is ridiculous that people who commit crimes against wild animals are treated less harshly than those who commit crimes against our pets. I really hope that the animal welfare strategy is the first step, and not the final destination. I look forward to hearing more about what legislation will follow in the King’s Speech, so that we can actually deliver change for our animals, wherever they are.

Oral Answers to Questions

Will Stone Excerpts

Thursday 8th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

As I said, the shadow Solicitor General raises extremely important issues—issues that the Government are alive to. This is a cross-Government issue, frankly, and it is important to all those partner enforcement agencies. I can assure her that work is ongoing and is being done to protect businesses and the public from these kind of attacks.

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

5. If the Attorney General will meet the hon. Member for Swindon North to discuss prosecutions by the Crown Prosecution Service under section 3ZB of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

[The Solicitor General]

I am aware of the tragic case to which my hon. Friend refers, and which he has been campaigning on. I would like to take the opportunity to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Harry Parker. Every single death on our roads is completely unacceptable, and increasing the safety of our roads is a priority for this Government.

[Will Stone]

I thank my hon. Friend for her response. Harry Parker was 14 years old when he got run over. The person who took his life did not have a driving licence or any insurance, and did not stop, yet last November the charges were dropped. This is partially down to section 3ZB of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Will my hon. Friend review section 3ZB and meet me to see how we can close the loopholes?

[The Solicitor General]

It is fundamental that our roads are safe for all who use them, and that those who break our road safety laws are brought to justice. That is why we are committed to delivering a new road safety strategy, and the next steps will be set out in due course. The Government keep motoring offences under review, including those for driving unlicensed and uninsured. As my hon. Friend knows, the CPS prosecutes matters independently of Government, but I would nevertheless be more than happy to meet him to discuss this matter.

Thames Water: Government Support

Will Stone Excerpts

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor) for bringing forward this debate. I am a little surprised that there are only 10 things he hates about Thames Water; my list is significantly longer. It is a really important debate. I wanted to come into it with a balanced view, and not just slate Thames Water, but it is incredibly hard. I feel that Thames Water is systematically failing the public on pretty much every level. We have seen a lack of investment in infrastructure, which has resulted in mass pollution, the needless deaths of thousands of animals and fish and destruction to our natural habitat, which is completely unacceptable. At the same time as not investing, Thames Water has been paying out astronomical fees to its chief executive, and to its shareholders in dividends—that is completely ridiculous, and it is being passed on to my residents. We need to look at changing that.

Let me flip the page to other Thames Water failures and look at its customer service: it was attempting to charge a resident in Swindon North over £11,000, saying he was using an Olympic-sized swimming pool of water weekly. He battled for over a year, getting nowhere. It took one email from me to get Thames Water to come out and look at it—shock horror, he was not using an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Thames Water actually owed him money. It should not take a Member of Parliament emailing to intervene—that is completely wrong and unacceptable. Thames Water needs to be more accountable to the public.

In Swindon we also have flooding, like in every constituency. We have it from Priory Vale to Stratton St Margaret. Thames Water has agreed that it is at fault and that this is its problem, yet has done nothing about it. That is unacceptable. Residents cannot remortgage their house or move on, and are trapped in a situation where they have to accept that every year their house will flood while, once again, Thames Water makes more profit. That is completely shoddy and unacceptable.

We have also heard today about the increase in prices. I urge Ofwat to reject Thames Water’s new claim to increase prices. As we have said, Thames Water is not delivering and not accountable. What metric is it actually succeeding on? This is unacceptable. I am sure that everybody in this room would say that Thames Water should not increase its prices. I am pleased that the Government are planning to introduce more regulation, to monitor the sewage systems more and to give Ofwat more power. I just want to see it use that power.

I again thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam. I thought that the debate would be a bit busier so I did not plan a long speech, but this issue is vitally important, and I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say.

Oral Answers to Questions

Will Stone Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Coombes (West Bromwich) (Lab)]

1. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases in relation to violence against women and girls.

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

5. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases in relation to violence against women and girls.

[The Solicitor General (Sarah Sackman)]

This Government are committed to halving violence against women and girls in the next decade. We are not only fixing the foundations of our economy, but rebuilding trust in our criminal justice system, with an additional £49 million in the Budget for the Crown Prosecution Service. This will mean additional specialists in rape and serious sexual offences, boosting investigators to tackle those awful offences.

[The Solicitor General]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that very important point, and for the work she is doing in this area. For too long, victims of domestic abuse across the country have been let down, but this week, we have welcomed a new domestic abuse joint justice plan between police and prosecutors. That plan will see them working more closely together to support victims, in order to deliver swifter investigation and justice for all.

[Will Stone]

Prosecutions and convictions for domestic abuse plummeted over the last eight years under the previous Government. Additionally, the time taken to charge domestic abuse cases has increased dramatically. Given the alarming rise in delays, what measures is the Solicitor General implementing to expedite those processes and ensure timely justice for victims?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend raises a powerful point. He is right that between 2016-17 and 2023-24 the number of domestic abuse flagged cases received from the police by the CPS dropped by nearly 36%. We are beginning to see a rebound in those figures, but much more needs to be done. We need a whole-system approach to fix the system, and our domestic abuse joint justice plan will ensure that the CPS and police work more closely together to address those delays from the very outset of a case.