Animal Welfare Bill
10:30 am
Norman Baker (Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Lewes, Liberal Democrat)
May I also welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Gale? With your considerable knowledge and expertise in this matter, I am sure that you will keep us in order when we stray from the Bill and will not allow us to introduce any red herrings into our discussions. I should also declare my interests. I am responsible for two protected animals but, given that they are cats, they would probably regard themselves as independent rather than protected. I also have an unpaid, honorary position with the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals.
I support the timetable motion. I also want the Bill to progress in the spirit of constructiveness and to emerge in the strongest and most coherent form. My colleagues and I will do our level best to achieve that. The Minister will know that some of us served on Standing Committee on the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill with the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight). We were all impressed by his flexibility. He certainly held to the Government's position. He did not compromise, but he was also prepared to listen and to make amendments. As a consequence, the Bill was stronger in the end and he came out of it with considerable respect.
I hope and am confident that the same can be said of the present Minister at the end of our proceedings. I would ask him at some point to clarify how his party will deal with the issue of whipped or free votes. My party regards the Bill as a whipped Bill but there will be free votes on issues such as tail docking or electric shock collars or anything else that may come up. It would be helpful if the Minister could put on the record how he will deal with that. Will his colleagues have a free vote on tail docking?
Question put and agreed to.