Oral Answers to Questions

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that we have increased by another 15,000 the number of visas available through the seasonal agriculture workers scheme. An extra 10,000 visas are available should the industry require them. We are supplying the industry with the labour it requires, and the scheme seems to be working very well at this moment in time.

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

Polling commissioned by the Dogs Trust found that the biggest worry of almost a quarter of dog owners is the rising cost of dog food, causing deep concern and issues of abandonment. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) raised at the previous DEFRA questions the campaign to remove VAT from pet food. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Treasury, and will the coming Budget introduce measures to reduce or remove VAT from dog food?

[Dr Coffey]

Pets are, of course, very precious to people and, after children, are often their No. 1 priority. It is important to try to make sure that people are generous. I make a plea to dog and cat food manufacturers to help their customers at this challenging time. The Budget will take place soon, but I want to manage expectations. I do not expect changes to VAT rates for specific products, but let us do what we can to make sure that our pets get fed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

The hon. Member for City of Chester, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, was asked—

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

3. If the Committee will make an assessment of the potential effect of the Elections Act 2022 on the impartiality of the Electoral Commission.

--- Later in debate ---

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester)]

The Speaker’s Committee has no plans to make an assessment of the potential effect of the Elections Act on the impartiality of the Electoral Commission. The commission itself has raised concerns about the potential challenge to its impartiality from the introduction of a strategy and policy statement by which the Government can guide its work. Its view is that that is inconsistent with the role that an independent electoral commission plays in a democratic system. The commission is currently considering the consultation on the draft statement and will publish its response in due course.

[Allan Dorans]

The last Prime Minister and the Government attacked the impartiality of the Electoral Commission after the Downing Street flat refurbishment was found in breach of donation declaration rules and a fine was subsequently imposed. That was followed by leading Tory Members calling for the abolition of the Electoral Commission or, sinisterly, for its direction to be controlled via the Elections Act strategy and policy statement. Does the representative of the Speaker’s Committee agree that the new Prime Minister should commit to protecting the independence of the Electoral Commission and should remove the specific aspects of Government overreach in the Elections Act?

[Christian Matheson]

As I said in my previous answer, the Speaker’s Committee has made no assessment on this particular matter. Any changes to the Elections Act will be a matter for the House, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will pursue those avenues in other areas of its business.

Real Fur Sales

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Tuesday 14th September 2021 Westminster Hall

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure, as always to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Rees. Sometimes, we—[Interruption.]

[Christina Rees (in the Chair)]

Order.

Sitting suspended for Divisions in the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Christina Rees (in the Chair)]

The debate may now continue until 5.54 pm, and I intend to call the Front Benchers at 5.32 pm.

[Allan Dorans]

Sometimes we imagine that our concern for the wellbeing of other species is very modern, but in 1783—nearly a quarter of a millennium ago—a young ploughboy, Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s bard, who was born in my constituency, wrote of the feelings of animals in his famous poems “To a Mouse”, “On Glenriddell’s Fox Breaking His Chain” and many others, clearly displaying his understanding that animals have feelings and suffer pain. By 2021, we have so much evidence of animal sentience that we must reconsider all our behaviour towards them.

In my short time as an MP, I have found myself writing to Ministers and speaking in the House, urging them to act on a wide range of animal welfare-related matters, including the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, an end to lab testing with animals, stiffer penalties for cruelty to animals, a ban on the use of cages, traps and puppy farms, and of course an end to the fur trade. As the RSPCA put it:

“Evidence from multiple scientific studies has helped us to understand that a wide range of animals are sentient beings. This means they have the capacity to experience positive and negative feelings such as pleasure, joy, pain and distress that matter to the individual.”

As many as 2,500 scientific studies have proven the existence of animal sentience across a dizzying array of species. To put it simply, like us they know what it is to experience the horror of what we do to them, to live in agonising fear of it and—if they survive—to have to live with the memory of it.

The fur trade also means terror for sentient creatures. As one of my constituents put it to me:

“I don’t wear fur because I think it’s cruel. Every year around the world millions of animals are kept in small wire cages or caught in metal leghold traps before being brutally killed, all for a product no one needs, a frivolous piece of fur trim. The practice of keeping and rearing animals in cages unfit for purpose and to kill them for their fur for profit is barbaric, cruel and inhumane and for any country to condone and allow such fur to be imported and sold is equally as barbaric.”

The message is clear; the call for evidence is complete. A total ban on fur imports and sales is required, and it is required now.

Sentience and Welfare of Animals

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Westminster Hall

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

I am delighted to speak and represent the views of more than 150 of my constituents who contacted me to offer their support for the debate. Anyone who has been in the presence of a cow being separated from her calf, as she hurls herself repeatedly at the byre door to try to get to her baby, knows full well that animals are sentient beings. From the thousands of videos on Facebook and YouTube showing animals being released from laboratories for the first time into a space where they can see the sky and feel the grass under their feet, we know that animals experience joy. Who, watching an octopus drag ocean detritus to cover herself and hide in full view of the shark hunting her, would not feel awe at her intelligence or recognise her desire to live and protect her young?

On 27 November 2017, the Scottish Government recognised that sentience and stated that

“the Scottish Government fully accepts the principle of animal sentience and will take all appropriate action to safeguard animal welfare standards. Animal Sentience has been recognised in Scottish legislation for over a century”.

In keeping with that statement, on 29 February this year, the Scottish Government created the first independent animal welfare commission, consisting of 12 members who will provide ethical and scientific advice to the Scottish Government. It is chaired by Professor Cathy Dwyer, an eminent professor of animal behaviour and welfare.

The commission will consider how the welfare needs of sentient animals are being met by devolved policy, possible legislative and non-legislative routes further to protect the welfare of sentient animals, and the research required for an evidence base for future policy development. It will also specifically consider how current policies take account of animal sentience, the wider welfare needs of animals and what improvements could be made.

In Westminster, the Government have yet to incorporate the Lisbon treaty article 13 acknowledgement of animal sentience into law. That is quite ironic, given that the original framework was initiated by the United Kingdom when they held the presidency of the European Union in 1997. The Government have stated that the sentience of animals will continue to be recognised, with protections strengthened once we leave the European Union. We have heard on many occasions that that is the Government’s view, but no animal sentience legislation has been forthcoming. We welcome their commitment, but yet we wait. We were told in a written response on 14 March 2019 that officials continue to engage with stakeholders further to refine the Government’s proposals.

Now we have left the European Union, it is even more critical that the Government, at a very minimum, have animal sentience as a keystone value within future policy. All existing animal welfare laws instigated and passed in the House of Commons are in place because we wish to stop animals being subjected to pain. We do therefore already recognise animal sentience and should bring that recognition into law.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for giving way and my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) for securing this important debate during these trying times. As an animal lover and owner, I have found the contributions of Members across the House touching. Will the hon. Member join me in commending the work of Friends of Animals Wales, a charity in my patch of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and in particular Eileen Jones? They do fantastic work with the Welsh Government against the barbaric puppy farming trade and are also pushing for Lucy’s law to be implemented to protect all dogs from such awful treatment. I pay tribute to them for their fantastic work.

[Allan Dorans]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention and totally agree with her sentiments. It is my view that we need to enshrine the protection of animals in law.

[Neale Hanvey]

Anyone who has had a pet and loved them, with that relationship having built up over the years, knows that that creature is sentient. Does my hon. Friend share my frustration that sentience has been described as some unnecessary additional clause to be added to legislation and ascribed as an ornament on a Christmas tree? Does he agree that sentience is surely not an additional ornament, but a central and fundamental tenet of any legislation? The analogy of sentience being an ornament is so inaccurate because sentience is the tree—the central component of animal welfare. Does he also agree that, in line with the Scottish animal welfare commission, that should be a central part of policy making in Westminster?

--- Later in debate ---

[Allan Dorans]

Thank you, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I agree with the sentiments he expressed.

Rules for Direct Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations 2020 Financing, Management and Monitoring of Direct Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2020 General Committees

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

The statutory instrument is of great interest to me. My constituency is hugely rural. It is 50 miles long and 20 miles wide. The agriculture and farming industry is critical to our national and local economy, in terms of the production of beef, lamb, dairy produce, and crops such as cereals and potatoes. The issue is therefore hugely important to us.

I welcome the continuity, but the direct payments made by the UK Government under the common agricultural policy amounted to about £400 million per annum. The Scottish Government recognise that direct payment schemes are critical to Scottish farmers, and have therefore been pressing the UK Government to address the issue since last year. The statutory instruments are a last-minute fix for a problem that was flagged up to the UK Government last year. They are representative of their reckless approach, and show contempt for our farming and crofting communities.

Scottish Government farm business income statistics show that without the support of the direct payments about 60% of agricultural businesses would record a loss. Without the measures to address the legal vacuum in relation to making direct payments to farmers there would be severe financial implications for many of Scotland’s agricultural businesses and they would go bankrupt. That would mean many businesses would fold in turn.

We support the statutory instruments reluctantly, because of the circumstances in which they have been imposed on us.