Clause 8 - Duty of person responsible for animal to ensure welfare
Animal Welfare Bill
1:45 pm
Bill Wiggin (Shadow Minister (Agriculture & Fisheries), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Leominster, Conservative)
The Minister has been battling away on the difference between absolute and flexible standards, and I have enjoyed watching him wriggle. For my purposes, I am content that we may be all right.
However, the arguments seemed to fly very much in the face of the Bill’s purpose, which is to increase responsibility for animal welfare. To some extent, choosing flexibility means that the absolute duty for animal welfare is diminished. If the Minister can live with that, it is a shame, but I understand why. The drafting of this part of the Bill is extremely difficult, and Conservative Members have done our best to give him a great deal of help. He probably ought to go away and think about the matter; when he reads what he has said today, he may want to do that anyway. Should he wish to amend the Bill at a later date, we will all be sympathetic.