Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Lord Trees, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to amend the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to prevent misuse of the title of veterinary nurse; and for connected purposes
Lord Trees has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed.
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable.
The Animal Welfare Committee Opinion on the welfare implications of different methods and systems for the catching, carrying, collecting and loading of poultry was published in February 2024. We are carefully considering its findings before deciding on next steps and are working with the Welsh and Scottish Governments to ensure a consistent approach across Great Britain.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) includes a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter which allows the UK and the EU to take a risk-based approach to our respective SPS border controls and provides a basis for cooperation on avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade. Officials meet their counterparts on a regular basis to discuss the SPS provisions of the TCA.
Where issues are raised, we are happy to pursue appropriate resolution. For example, through the provisions of the SPS Chapter, the UK is working with the EU to take forward electronic certification, which will facilitate trade through reducing delays and reducing business administration.
In England, wildlife is protected by law through legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
Section 11 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits certain methods of killing or taking wild animals. Under subsection 2(c), a person will be guilty of an offence if they set in position any electrical device for killing or stunning, calculated to cause bodily injury to any wild animal included in Schedule 6 of that Act, such as badgers and hedgehogs. It is also an offence under regulation 45 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 to use electrical and electronic devices capable of killing or stunning, for the purpose of capturing or killing a European protected species, or for any of the protected species listed on Schedule 4 of those Regulations.
The Government has not made a specific assessment of the welfare implications of the baiting of electrified fences.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito from the Stegomyia subgenus. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) undertakes surveillance of dengue cases in the United Kingdom. All cases identified in the UK to date are imported cases where a human has been infected abroad then travelled to the UK. There is no current evidence of the presence of mosquito species that can transmit dengue in the UK and there is no risk of acquisition of infection within the UK.
Changing weather conditions favourable for the proliferation of mosquitoes and the expansion outside of historical areas of transmission secondary to climate change may lead to changes in dengue transmission beyond current endemic areas. UKHSA have published modelling on the future risk of establishment of mosquito species that can transmit dengue in the UK, and undertake daily international horizon scanning via epidemic intelligence to track changing dengue epidemiology globally. Detections of invasive mosquitoes are responded to in line with the national contingency plan to prevent the establishment of mosquitoes that can transmit dengue.