Animals Act 1971 (Amendment) Bill

Now I understand what the hon. Gentleman is talking about. I am grateful for that clarification. The point I have been trying to make is that we have to commit one way or the other. I am prepared to commit to not insisting on compulsory insurance; if that is wrong, we should be addressing the issue again in a different way and ensure that everyone who owns an animal has the responsibility to insure it. It should therefore be a responsibility that comes with animal ownership. At the moment, it does not and that is not going to change, so I think that the hon. Gentleman's characterisation is wrong. With this amending Bill, the legislation can be improved and become clearer. Parliament can act to help prevent the decline in riding schools and we can continue to encourage responsible animal ownership. I think that the Bill does exactly what is needed: it clarifies the position that the judges got themselves into and it will make it much easier for people to own animals, confident in the knowledge that if they behave responsibly and try to foresee every sort of accident that can happen and protect themselves and their animals accordingly, they can carry on with the privilege of ownership. The open-ended risk hanging over animal owners would be removed by the Bill, so the measure is helpful and important. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire on proposing the Bill, on his early-day motion and on his campaign to ensure that animal ownership is a privilege that can be enjoyed by the many, not just the few.