Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill

Baroness Hayman of Ullock Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 14th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black of Brentwood, for his excellent and thorough introduction of the Bill to your Lordships’ House, as well as Angela Richardson MP for steering it through the other place. I would also like to thank a number of charities that have been campaigning on this issue: the RSPCA, World Animal Protection, Animal Welfare and Four Paws. In particular, I want to thank Save the Asian Elephants and Duncan McNair, who is with us today. I genuinely believe we would not be here debating this Bill were it not for the work that he has done, and I congratulate him.

As has been mentioned, the Bill has strong cross-party support. The legislation will represent a significant step forward in protecting wild animals from the cruelty and exploitation that we have been hearing about in this debate. It will also demonstrate the UK’s role in establishing world-leading standards on animal welfare in this area. However, to realise this ambition the Bill must deliver effectively its objective of banning the promotion and sale of animal activities abroad that would be illegal under domestic legislation.

We have heard that the intent of this Bill has overwhelming public support, and we have heard the poll evidence to support that. Every year, hundreds of thousands of wild animals are exploited for entertainment in the global tourism industry. As research has shown, one of the problems is that many of these wildlife tourist attractions have impacts of which the tourists who take advantage of them have absolutely no idea. Common examples that we have heard include elephant rides and swimming with dolphins experiences. For these actions to take place, there are cruel training techniques, coercive control, conditioned unnatural behaviours, stressful interactions and so on. Many of these animals are highly intelligent and this is appallingly cruel treatment.

By discouraging the sale and promotion of such activities, the proposed Bill aims to help steer the market towards promoting more ethical and welfare-friendly tourism. Some travel companies have taken steps to restrict the sale of low-welfare activities to their customers but, unfortunately, many well-known companies continue to sell these cruel and exploitative wildlife experiences.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black, for mentioning Helen Costigan and her sister. They had the most appalling experience and terrible tragedy, and it is important that we put into the context of this the human tragedy that can come out of the treatment of animals in this way.

We support the Bill because it aims to improve animal welfare overseas by prohibiting the sale and advertising of such activities. To ensure the smooth passage of the Bill, we are not going to table any amendments. However, as the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, said, there are some areas where we would like clarification from the Minister to ensure that it meets its objectives effectively.

Activity regulations must reflect the changing market for low-welfare activities abroad. Regulations must be kept in alignment with changes in domestic animal welfare legislation as well as evolving scientific understanding of animal sentience and its impact on animal welfare. In the absence of a duty to review regulations, is the Minister able to confirm how activity regulations are going to remain comprehensive and up to date?

The noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, mentioned some of our other concerns so I will not go into great detail, but one is the use of the phrase “principal market” in Clause 2(5)(b). Our concern, as she laid out, is that this could open up a loophole. We agree with her that removing “principal” from the clause would mean that the legislation covered any advertisement intended for England or Northern Ireland and remove any confusion. I wonder if the Minister would consider taking that back to his department to have a further look at it.

The other concern is about widening the parameters of committing an offence, as raised by the noble Baroness. She talked about “relevant”, which is extremely important. We are concerned that it risks excluding from prosecution people based in Scotland or Wales who sell or promote regulated activities in England or Northern Ireland, as she laid out. We agree with her that omitting “relevant” would close that potential loophole. If the Minister were able to clarify that the department would look at that how that loophole could be addressed, we would be grateful.

We very much support this legislation and want it on the statute book but it is important that it is fit for purpose, so we look forward to the Minister’s reassurances regarding the questions that we have asked.

Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill

Baroness Hayman of Ullock Excerpts

3rd reading
Monday 18th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Harlech (Con)]

My Lords, as noble Lords will be aware, the Northern Ireland Civil Service continues to face a number of challenges in the absence of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the subsequent lack of an Executive. For this reason, it has not been possible to engage in the legislative consent process for this or any other Bill.

Given the importance of animal welfare, positive engagement at official level and advice we have received from the Northern Ireland Permanent Secretary and that previous animal welfare Ministers expressed support for this Bill, we will proceed to legislate on behalf of Northern Ireland without the formal legislative consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly. We will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Permanent Secretary to keep them informed throughout this process.

I thank my noble friend Lord Black of Brentwood for his hard work in guiding the Bill through this House to this stage and for his commitment to, and passion for, animal welfare. I pay tribute to my honourable friend the Member for Guildford, Angela Richardson, for her success in steering the Bill through the other place with such enthusiasm and eloquence. I also extend my thanks to all the charities involved in this work, including Save the Asian Elephants, the RSPCA, World Animal Protection and Four Paws UK, for their continued support for the Bill.

I am grateful to all noble Lords who contributed to the Second Reading debate, and pleased that the Bill has been widely supported across the House. Throughout its passage we have heard about the horrific conditions that animals are subjected to in the name of tourism, and I am pleased that we have had the opportunity to debate, discuss and raise awareness of such an important issue. I will not repeat the discussion at Second Reading, but I emphasise that the Bill demonstrates the UK’s commitment to being a global leader in animal welfare standards. I am pleased to reiterate the Government’s support for the Bill, and I look forward to seeing it on the statute book.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

My Lords, I shall be brief. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black, for all his work on the Bill. It started out as part of the ill-fated animals abroad Bill, so the fact that he has brought it here from the other place as a Private Member’s Bill and that it has made such good progress is due to his effort and commitment, and we really appreciate the work he has put into it.

As he said, it has had cross-party support and a lot of support from different animal welfare charities. Like him, I particularly single out Duncan McNair and the Save the Asian Elephants charity, which has been absolutely fixated on delivering the Bill through the Chamber. It has done a terrific job of working extremely constructively with all those who care about this issue, as have the noble Lords, Lord Black and Lord Benyon, the Minister. It is always good to see a Bill passing when we have had success, with lots of constructive work and feedback. I add my thanks to all the people who have worked on the Bill.

I fully endorse the noble Lord’s words about Helen Costigan, her family and her sister. That family has been extraordinary in its efforts to work with us to understand the human impact as well as the animal welfare impact of this legislation. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black, and I am delighted that the Government support the Bill.