Rishi Sunak is facing a potential challenge as Conservative backbench MPs prepare to support a Labour proposal that aims to revive abandoned animal welfare policies.
In the previous month, the government announced the abandonment of the kept animals bill, a component of the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto. This legislation was intended to prohibit live exports of farm animals, as well as address issues such as puppy smuggling and dog theft.
Labour is now bringing back the government’s legislation unaltered through an opposition day motion on Wednesday. This motion aims to allocate parliamentary time on 12 July for the animal welfare (kept animals) bill to go through all stages and become law.
Conservative sources revealed that the bill was dropped due to concerns that it might be used to restrict the keeping of hunting dogs, potentially upsetting influential lobby groups and Tory donors.
Members of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, including former environment secretary Theresa Villiers, Henry Smith, and Sir Roger Gale, are expected to vote in favor of the bill, which enjoyed significant support in the Commons.
MP Andrea Jenkyns voiced her opposition last month when the government shelved the bill and has launched a parliamentary petition demanding its revival. It is understood that several Conservative backbenchers plan to express support for the motion, aiming to compel the government to reconsider its own animal welfare legislation and avoid a victory for Labour.
Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, has written to Conservative MPs, seeking their support and emphasizing that voting against the opposition day motion or obstructing the bill’s progress would imply continued support for puppy smuggling, puppy farming, pet theft, and live animal exports.
The Boris Johnson government had pledged to strengthen animal welfare laws in the UK by utilizing “Brexit freedoms” to ban imports of foie gras and fur, in addition to passing the kept animals bill.
However, successive governments have shown less enthusiasm for these measures. Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has claimed that there is insufficient parliamentary time to ban fur and foie gras imports, and there has been a significant delay in passing the kept animals bill, introduced to the Commons over a year ago.
According to McMahon, the kept animals bill holds immense significance for animal welfare and is crucial for restoring trust in politics. He highlighted that the Conservatives made a promise in their 2019 manifesto to enact this bill, and the prime minister personally committed to its implementation.
To address concerns, the government is taking steps to reintroduce certain aspects of the bill as separate laws. On Tuesday, ministers announced their intention to introduce legislation prohibiting the keeping of primates as pets.
A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) stated that the UK takes a leading role in animal welfare and is fully dedicated to upholding and strengthening its impressive track record. They affirmed the government’s commitment to advancing the measures outlined in the kept animals bill individually during the remainder of this parliamentary term, and further details regarding the next steps will be provided in due course.
