UK Parliament / Open data

Wild Animals (Circuses)

Backbench debate on Thursday, 23 June 2011, in the House of Commons, led by Mark Pritchard. The answering member was Tony Baldry.
Twenty-ninth backbench debate (part three). Agreed to on question.
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
530 c548-85 
Session
2010-12
Department
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 530 c565 (Link to this contribution) Order. So that more Back Benchers will have an opportunity to speak, I am reducing the time limit to...
Speaker | 530 c552 (Link to this contribution) Order. There is a six-minute limit on Back-Bench contributions. As is apparent from the number of Me...

Show all contributions (149)
Speaker | 530 c548 (Link to this contribution) I have to announce that Mr Speaker has not selected the amendment.
Mark Pritchard | 530 c548-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an accurate and pertinent point, which, if I may, I would like to address later...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c548 (Link to this contribution) All I can say is that 64% of Members of this House support a ban on wild animals in circuses. I cann...
Lord Foster of Bath | 530 c548 (Link to this contribution) On the hon. Gentleman's point about the Government wanting to reassert the importance of this House,...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c548 (Link to this contribution) I am going to take only two interventions, but all right.
Denis MacShane | 530 c548 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. Will he confirm that he and his Conservative colleagues who are...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c548 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House directs the Government to use its powers under section 12 of the Anim...
Denis MacShane | 530 c548 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way on that point?
Mark Pritchard | 530 c549 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I am afraid that I cannot give way because I have very limited time, although I am s...
Baroness Bray of Coln | 530 c549 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Are we actually going to get on to the substance of the deba...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 530 c569 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely accept that point, and there are other examples too. We had a debate a month ago on fis...
Cathy Jamieson | 530 c569-70 (Link to this contribution) For once—perhaps the only time—it is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Zac Gol...
Justin Tomlinson | 530 c568 (Link to this contribution) With overwhelming public opinion against the use of animals, might such a ban help circuses, because...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 530 c567-8 (Link to this contribution) I pay my respects to my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard), whom I cannot see in...
Lord Watts | 530 c568 (Link to this contribution) The general public, MPs and even Ministers are opposed to live animals in circuses. Is it not clear ...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 530 c568 (Link to this contribution) That is an extremely valuable point. I have been to circuses in this country, but I have made a poin...
Lord Beamish | 530 c568 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the strength of public opinion. Why were his Government and hi...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 530 c568 (Link to this contribution) I have no idea. I do not know the politics and I do not know the Prime Minister's position. I accept...
Matthew Offord | 530 c569 (Link to this contribution) I am sure my hon. Friend will recall the issue of prisoners' voting rights, when the European Union ...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 530 c568-9 (Link to this contribution) I began my speech by welcoming the change of heart over the past couple of hours. I have not been pa...
Caroline Lucas | 530 c567 (Link to this contribution) I think that were the Government not to act in that way, the Great British public would be shocked a...
Caroline Lucas | 530 c567 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. It is the responsibility of member states to act, and ...
Angela C Smith | 530 c567 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to intervene on the hon. Lady towards the end of her speech, and I thank her for allowing...
John Leech | 530 c564-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman; I was about to make that very point. Over the past few years, the...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 530 c564 (Link to this contribution) Another problem with licensing is that it does not deal with the issue of animal welfare, because th...
Jonathan Reynolds | 530 c566 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making a marvellous speech. My understanding is that every legal case brought by Eu...
Caroline Lucas | 530 c565-6 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to the Members who tabled this important motion. We need a ban on keeping wild animal...
Nia Griffith | 530 c563 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. It is a purely selfish idea that anybody would want to see an animal perform in a circus...
Bob Stewart | 530 c563 (Link to this contribution) I have personal experience of a wild animal. I found a bear in a cage in no man's land. He had been ...
Nia Griffith | 530 c563-4 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, society has moved on. We do not expect to see the cruelty of animals being kept in c...
John Leech | 530 c564 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to speak on this incredibly important motion, and I congratulate the hon. Member for ...
Andrew George | 530 c562 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that there will be party political points to be scored throughout the debate; I congratula...
Nia Griffith | 530 c562 (Link to this contribution) Indeed; my hon. Friend has clarified the position. It is very straightforward. It can be achieved be...
Angela C Smith | 530 c563 (Link to this contribution) Have we not come to expect, as a society, that animals should live in their natural environment and ...
Nia Griffith | 530 c562-3 (Link to this contribution) We want a definitive decision to be taken today. We want that decision to go in favour of a ban, and...
Andrew Gwynne | 530 c562 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is to be commended for the work that she has done on animal welfare in the last Parli...
Nia Griffith | 530 c562 (Link to this contribution) We have already heard many comments from many colleagues, so I will not repeat what has been said. I...
Matthew Offord | 530 c561 (Link to this contribution) I suggest, as others have already urged, that we take a lead on the matter. As I have said, I have h...
Matthew Offord | 530 c561 (Link to this contribution) I am certainly not aware of any cases under human rights legislation, and the situation involves not...
Matthew Offord | 530 c560-1 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to stand corrected by the Minister. That allows me to move my argument on. Another argum...
Tracey Crouch | 530 c561 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that in the UK more than 200 local authorities have bans on animals in circu...
James Paice | 530 c560 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend is right about article 8 of the convention, but at no time have I refe...
Matthew Offord | 530 c559-60 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to be called to speak in the debate, but I find it rather sad that we are still talking...
Jim Dowd | 530 c559 (Link to this contribution) Well, there are free votes and there are free votes. To paraphrase George Orwell, some of them are m...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c559 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to announce that the coalition Government, certainly on the Conservative side, have hea...
Jim Dowd | 530 c558 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The hon. Member for Romford was being most disingenuous or misinformed, depending on one's p...
Chuka Umunna | 530 c558 (Link to this contribution) I have received a huge number of e-mails and correspondence from constituents about this matter. The...
Jim Dowd | 530 c558 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has it exactly right. The speech of the hon. Member for Romford would bear reread...
Jim Dowd | 530 c558-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree strongly with my hon. Friend. When we speak to those involved with zoos and aquariums, it is...
Lord Watts | 530 c558 (Link to this contribution) Is it not a fact that zoos have spent a great deal of money doing the research to find out what sort...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c557 (Link to this contribution) I knew that my views would be unpopular, but I ask hon. Members perhaps to take something away from ...
Jim Dowd | 530 c557 (Link to this contribution) That contribution can best be described idiosyncratic, or idiotic, depending on the point of view ta...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c557 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, in the absence my having been able to intervene ...
Jim Dowd | 530 c557-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention; I suspect that he might be on to somethin...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c556 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. We have the Animal Welfare Act 2006—a brilliant piece of legislation from the last ...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c556 (Link to this contribution) Non-domesticated—they are wild animals, but when lions and tigers are 10th generation born in that e...
Caroline Lucas | 530 c556 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that he wants science. What about the science from the British Veterinary As...
Speaker | 530 c557 (Link to this contribution) Order. Once again, I can see that emotions are running high, but I remind the House that when you sa...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c557 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid to say that I am sorry that the debate is being dragged to such a level. Instead of deal...
Stephen Phillips | 530 c556 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend share with the House his views on whether third-generation slaves in the United ...
Speaker | 530 c556 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr Rosindell is not giving way, so persistent requests are not helping the situation. I am su...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c556 (Link to this contribution) I should like to take interventions, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I am being shouted down, which is not ve...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c555-6 (Link to this contribution) May I continue? On the face of it, I agree that it looks to many people as though it is all very cr...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c555 (Link to this contribution) May I make some progress before I give way? Instead of basing my views purely on what the newspaper...
Caroline Lucas | 530 c555 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c555 (Link to this contribution) Not at the moment. For those animals, their entire rhythm of life is based on what they have known ...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c555 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mark Pritchard | 530 c555 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c554-5 (Link to this contribution) Animal welfare matters to the British people, but we in the House have a duty and responsibility to ...
Andrew Rosindell | 530 c555 (Link to this contribution) I will give way in a moment. We have to base our decisions on cool hard facts and knowledge of the ...
Caroline Lucas | 530 c555 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
John Leech | 530 c553 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was a good Minister, but does he regret that he did not introduce a ban in his ti...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 530 c553-4 (Link to this contribution) I regret that we as a Labour Government did not introduce a ban, but the Animal Welfare Act was a ma...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 530 c553 (Link to this contribution) That is a good question, and I will discuss the 2006 Act in due course. It is my understanding that ...
Tony Baldry | 530 c553 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman had ministerial responsibility for this issue under the last Government, may I...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 530 c552-3 (Link to this contribution) I am very pleased to follow the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard), and I congratulate him....
Mark Pritchard | 530 c550-1 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Today, this country has three travelling circuses with a total of 39 ...
Speaker | 530 c549 (Link to this contribution) We are here today to debate the motion before the House and that is exactly what we are now going to...
Denis MacShane | 530 c549 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Is there anything more important than a Member of...
Speaker | 530 c549 (Link to this contribution) Order. I know that Mr Pritchard is now going to move on to the substance of the motion before the Ho...
Cathy Jamieson | 530 c571 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a valid point. The devolved Administrations have powers that they can use, but o...
Speaker | 530 c571 (Link to this contribution) Order. As the House can see, several Members are still trying to speak. The wind-ups will start at h...
Sheryll Murray | 530 c571-2 (Link to this contribution) I will try to be brief. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) on ...
Nicholas Dakin | 530 c572 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for South East Cornwall (Sheryll Murray), who has spoken ...
Sheila Gilmore | 530 c570 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that despite some of the doom and gloom, including in my city, when local ...
Naomi Long | 530 c571 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady may also be aware that colleagues have tabled a motion in the Northern Ireland Assembl...
Nia Griffith | 530 c570 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will be well aware that the Labour Government allowed a free vote on tail docking. Do...
Neil Parish | 530 c575 (Link to this contribution) I will deal with that later, but I have previously stated that we should challenge the court ruling ...
Neil Parish | 530 c575 (Link to this contribution) I support the motion as it is high time we banned animals in circuses. I have been worried about the...
Mark Reckless | 530 c575 (Link to this contribution) Given the position my hon. Friend has set out, why has he decided to be the lead signatory to the am...
Baroness Bray of Coln | 530 c573 (Link to this contribution) As a child, I used to get rather excited by the prospect of a visit to the circus; one reason was th...
Bob Blackman | 530 c573 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that introducing a firm ban with a firm date means that no new animals wil...
Nicholas Dakin | 530 c572-3 (Link to this contribution) I have received no correspondence opposing a ban. Indeed, we have heard from only one Member this af...
Annette Brooke | 530 c574 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and briefly congratulate him on his long-standing work on this...
Bob Russell | 530 c574-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for those comments. To follow up the issue of what happens to the remaining 39 circus...
Baroness Bray of Coln | 530 c573-4 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree that we need a ban, although I am just a little worried about whether the time fra...
Bob Russell | 530 c574 (Link to this contribution) As the third signatory to this motion, I would like to congratulate my colleagues, the hon. Members ...
Speaker | 530 c577 (Link to this contribution) Order. There are two minutes left. I call Tessa Munt.
Tessa Munt | 530 c577 (Link to this contribution) Nothing short of a ban seems to be the answer to making this absolutely clear. The views of many org...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c576 (Link to this contribution) To which legal cases is my hon. Friend referring? There are currently none in England, the United Ki...
Speaker | 530 c576 (Link to this contribution) Order. There are four minutes and three speakers left—we must finish by 5.30 pm.
Simon Hart | 530 c576-7 (Link to this contribution) I am not a fan of wild animals in circuses, I would not take my children to see them or go myself an...
Andrew Bingham | 530 c575 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend talks about process, but does he not agree that the best thing to do is vote in favou...
Neil Parish | 530 c575-6 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but putting the ban in place will take a little while, so meanwhile we should consider certain ...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 530 c576 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has not yet answered the question put to him by the hon. Member for Rochester and...
Neil Parish | 530 c576 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I am being criticised for taking a pragmatic view on this. I want a ban and the only reason ...
Gavin Shuker | 530 c580 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to associate myself with those sentiments. There are serious questions to be asked about t...
Speaker | 530 c580 (Link to this contribution) Before I call the Minister, may I suggest that we have until five to 6 before I call the hon. Member...
Gavin Shuker | 530 c579-80 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to say that we had a clear commitment to do that in this Parliament. As a Member of P...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c580 (Link to this contribution) Has not the strength of the debate been the cross-party consensus? Notwithstanding the right of any ...
Gavin Shuker | 530 c579 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the opportunity to say what we did when in government. We banned animal testing for cos...
John Leech | 530 c579 (Link to this contribution) The previous Government had a reasonable record on animal welfare, but they had four years from the ...
Gavin Shuker | 530 c578-9 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Members for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) and for Colchester (Bob Russell) and...
Paul Uppal | 530 c579 (Link to this contribution) Those are fine words, but will the hon. Gentleman explain to the House why the Labour party did not ...
Speaker | 530 c578 (Link to this contribution) Order. I call Mr Gavin Shuker for the Opposition. He has 10 minutes.
James Paice | 530 c582-3 (Link to this contribution) No I will not; the hon. Gentleman was not here for much of the debate. The legal advice we have rec...
James Paice | 530 c583 (Link to this contribution) No. I will finish with the legal matters before giving way again. Obviously I cannot tell the House...
James Paice | 530 c584 (Link to this contribution) No doubt we could lay every lawyer in the House end to end and not reach a definite conclusion. I no...
Stephen Phillips | 530 c583 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Minister for giving way, and it is well known in the House that I do ...
Tessa Munt | 530 c584 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
James Paice | 530 c583 (Link to this contribution) This is in comparison with a licensing system that would be in place by the end of the year.
Stephen Phillips | 530 c583 (Link to this contribution) On that point, will the Minister give way?
James Paice | 530 c583 (Link to this contribution) I am well aware of who wishes to intervene. I turn now to the European aspects of the legislation. ...
Martin Horwood | 530 c581 (Link to this contribution) Had there been time for me to be called, I would have made the point that cruelty, in the sense of p...
James Paice | 530 c581 (Link to this contribution) I fully understand my hon. Friend's comments and I shall pick up one or two of them in a moment.
James Paice | 530 c582 (Link to this contribution) I am coming to that exact point. If the House were to approve the motion, the Government would have...
James Paice | 530 c582 (Link to this contribution) That may well be the judgment that the hon. Gentleman and many others—and probably even I—would come...
Gavin Shuker | 530 c581-2 (Link to this contribution) I am sure the whole House would like to hear what those tough licensing conditions would be. If they...
James Paice | 530 c581 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a few more points before I give way. My hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin listed, a...
James Paice | 530 c584 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I am rapidly coming to the end of my time. I share the views of hon. Members who ar...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c584-5 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to and thank the Minister, who has been very brave and courageous today and deserves a...
Lord Foster of Bath | 530 c567 (Link to this contribution) For the avoidance of doubt, will the hon. Lady confirm that the EU has not said just that these issu...
Caroline Lucas | 530 c567 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's intervention is very helpful in pointing out that that argument is a smokescree...
Simon Hart | 530 c561 (Link to this contribution) On human rights, does my hon. Friend accept that it takes only one person to challenge this decision...
Cathy Jamieson | 530 c570 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I certainly was glad to hear, during the debate, that the Go...
Ian Mearns | 530 c572 (Link to this contribution) I have received just one item of correspondence from someone who is against a ban—he is not a consti...
James Paice | 530 c580-1 (Link to this contribution) I will forgo the obvious opportunity to use many of the numerous witticisms that I have heard during...
Lord Watts | 530 c582 (Link to this contribution) Let us go to the root cause of the problem between the Minister and everyone else. He seems to be pi...
Julian Huppert | 530 c558 (Link to this contribution) As a scientist I am very interested in evidence. Could the hon. Gentleman spot what the facts were t...
Mark Pritchard | 530 c551-2 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me, but I am not giving way. I know that the hon. Lady has a long track record on this issue...
Cathy Jamieson | 530 c570-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. In Edinburgh, Fife and my local authority area in Ayrshire, t...
Neil Parish | 530 c576 (Link to this contribution) I covered that point at the beginning of my speech when I said that the case in Austria is not a goo...
Subjects
Animal welfare
Circuses
Wildlife
Legislation
Animal Welfare Act 2006
Link
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