UK Parliament / Open data

Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. We have labour shortages, and the pig sector is producing pigs under pressure and to a timeline. Things can build up if there is a stoppage at any point on that timeline, which is what has happened.

I welcome the Government’s movement on visas, English language tests and cold storage, but I urge Ministers to go further and to work across Government. DEFRA needs to work with the Home Office and the Department for International Trade. We need to reopen the export market to China, too. I fear we have an impending animal welfare crisis, and I urge the Government to act quickly.

The Secretary of State touched on devolution, and it is great that the devolved nations are working together on this issue, which is important. I urge all four nations to work closely together so that we do not end up with unintended consequences from the Bill. Lucy’s law on third-party sales is progressive, but unscrupulous people are exploiting the loopholes caused by the differences between our devolved nations, so I urge the nations to work together.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
702 c81 
Session
2021-22
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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