Welfare of Domestic Animals
Debate between Baroness Fookes and Baroness Hayman of Ullock(3 days, 8 hours ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Interestingly, I was in Downing Street yesterday as well, and I saw said cat. I foolishly attempted to take a photograph of it and was told that it was not acceptable and would not help the animal’s welfare.
Baroness Fookes (Con)
My Lords, I am much concerned by a piece of legislation passed by this Government that would ban the introduction of animals with mutilations that would be illegal if carried out in this country. We have the Act, but it depends on regulations. When may we see those regulations—in seven years’ time?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness raises an important point. This relates to ear cropping, for example, and so on and so forth, which was in the Bill that got Royal Assent earlier this week. I cannot give the noble Baroness a date, but I can assure her that we are very keen to move as quickly as we possibly can to bring in the statutory instrument to allow this to actually happen as she says.
Deforestation
Debate between Baroness Fookes and Baroness Hayman of Ullock(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
As part of the good food strategy and other ways to ensure that we have high standards of animal welfare and people eat healthy diets, we are also looking at what are called novel foods. But clearly, we have to ensure that they are properly produced and are a healthy alternative.
Baroness Fookes (Con)
My Lords, while I greatly welcome the Minister’s wish to increase tree cover, what steps are being taken to make sure that this is done sensitively and that appropriate types of trees are planted, whether in forests or in urban areas, and not just any old trees, particularly in the light of climate change? One needs to see that the right sort of trees are planted.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness asks a very good question. It is terribly important that the right type of tree is planted in the right place. We know the impact that climate change is having on many of our native species, and we have to take a long-term view of that. There is no point in planting an awful lot of trees that are not going to survive the climate changes we are seeing. Getting the right trees planted in the right place is an absolute priority.
Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023
Debate between Baroness Fookes and Baroness Hayman of Ullock(3 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
One reason I talked about non-legislative options is that we want to stop people buying such holidays in the first place. One problem is that, when people book a holiday with an elephant ride, they simply do not understand what has happened to that elephant and how it has been treated so that it can be ridden—so there is an education piece. It is currently the case that ABTA, which represents around 90% of British travel agents, offers guidance, working with its own members, as to what kind of activities are considered to be unacceptable. That guidance is there and we have been working with ABTA to look at how we can encourage further uptake—90% is a high number, but it is not everybody.