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Amendment made: No. 61, in page 30, line 9, at end insert—
'"suffering" means physical or mental suffering and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;'.—[Mr. Bradshaw.]
Schedule 3
Amendments made: No. 50, in page 39, line 16, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 51, in page 39, line 31, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 52, in page 40, line 17, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 53, in page 40, line 25, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 54, in page 40, line 35, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 55, in page 41, line 4, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 56, in page 41, line 21, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 57, in page 41, line 26, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 58, in page 41, line 30, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 59, in page 41, line 34, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.
No. 60, in page 41, line 37, after 'sections' insert
'[Docking of dogs' tails] (1) and (2) and'.—[Mr. Bradshaw.]
14 Mar 2006 : Column 1422
Order for Third Reading read.—[Queen's Consent, on behalf of the Crown, signified.]
10.56 pm
Mr. Bradshaw: I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
The hour is late, we have discussed many weighty matters in the course of this afternoon and evening and I think that the House would prefer it if I kept my remarks brief. I start by acknowledging a satisfying, but not altogether common, feature of our deliberations this afternoon, this evening and over the past few weeks, which is that the Bill has benefited from substantial cross-party support. The Opposition parties did not divide the House on Second Reading, and they have played a constructive hand during the detailed consideration of the Bill. We have had a good and rational debate, and Members on both sides have made important contributions. That good atmosphere enabled the Government to listen and, I hope Members will agree, improve the Bill in several important respects.
I pay tribute to all Members who participated in debates on the Floor of the House and in Committee. The debates have been conducted with good humour and in a positive spirit. I thank Members on both sides of the House, Back Benchers and others, particularly the hon. Members for Leominster (Bill Wiggin) and for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice), as well as the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) who has recently announced his, I hope, temporary retirement from his party's Front Bench. He will be missed, particularly on issues of animal welfare. I also thank the hon. Members for North Thanet (Mr. Gale) and my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) for chairing the Committee proceedings with such skill and verve. We should also thank the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, chaired by the right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack), for its work on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. I also thank the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), under whose stewardship the Bill saw its conception. I am sure that all Members of the House will acknowledge his long-standing and valuable contribution to furthering animal welfare in this country. I also acknowledge the support of the members of my team in DEFRA. They were superb. They worked long and hard hours to bring the Bill to this stage and I fear that they have more such hours ahead of them.
This is an historic day for the welfare of animals in this country. I commend the Bill to the House.
Bill Wiggin: The Bill has been four years in the making and I have followed it closely since the beginning. I was a member of the Select Committee that scrutinised an earlier draft of the Bill and I saw the current Bill through Standing Committee on behalf of the Opposition.
The Conservative party has always supported what we see as the Bill's primary intentions: updating and consolidating a century of fragmented and outdated legislation, and introducing the positive duty of care. We recognise the importance of the legislation and have
14 Mar 2006 : Column 1423
taken every opportunity to work consensually and constructively with Members on both sides of the House. Moreover, the scientific evidence to which I attach so much importance is such that legislation founded on it will always transcend political divides.
With that in mind, I pay tribute to the role played by the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw), in making the legislation possible. It was his first Bill and I congratulate him on the result. He was always prepared to welcome comment and counsel and subsequently to change his position. In any other Minister that could easily have been misconstrued as uncertainty or indecision, but not in the hon. Gentleman. He listened to advice about statutory improvement notices, allowed me to convince him of its merits and changed Government policy accordingly. I have no hesitation in thanking him publicly.
The hon. Gentleman listened carefully to the case for expanding the fighting offence in clause 7 to include all those with involvement in animal fights. At the behest of the Opposition, he added provisions to improve procedures under clause 16 for notifying owners that their animal is in distress. He allowed colleagues to persuade him to resolve the future of tail docking on the face of the Bill rather than, as he planned, through secondary legislation. He proved to be flexible about expanding the definition of "suffering" to include mental as well as physical harm.
If the hon. Gentleman continues to legislate in that constructive manner, and allows Parliament to scrutinise his proposals, I shall look forward to working with him again. Furthermore, other Ministers could do a lot worse than to learn from him.
I thank all members of the Standing Committee, as well as my hon. Friend the Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) and all Members who spoke. I also thank the Chairmen of the Committee, the hon. Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) and my hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Mr. Gale), the Select Committee, chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack), and all the people outside this place who so assiduously—indeed, copiously—wrote in with their views.
Tonight, we shall send the Bill to the other place and their lordships will be grateful for the hard work and effort made by the Chamber and for the improvements that we are proud to have made.
11.1 pm
Mr. Drew: I, too, express praise for my hon. Friend the Minister. He certainly listened and went further than some of us anticipated on tail docking, allowing us a full debate even if, in my opinion, we came to slightly the wrong conclusion—we live to fight another day.
My hon. Friend has made it clear throughout that he did not want the Bill to become a Christmas tree Bill—as he described it—to which we could all stick our baubles. I look forward to the resolution of issues such as electric shock collars, snares and the keeping of primates as pets.
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