Conservative Party Conference

This week is the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester which marks the end of conference season.   Much like last year, the issue that is looming large is how we maximise the opportunities created by our decision to leave the European Union. However, there have been other, less high profile issues discussed which are important to me.

 

In my time as an MP and particularly as a Minister at Defra, I have worked to try to improve standards of animal welfare.  We are a nation of animal lovers but there are, sadly, some terrible individual cases of gratuitous cruelty to animals which must be addressed. That is why I was pleased that Michael Gove has announced that we will bring forward new legislation that will substantially increase the maximum sentences that can be handed out for people who abuse animals to five years, instead of the six months now.  This announcement follows on from an earlier decision to increase the maximum fine from £20,000 to an unlimited fine.  There have been too many cases in which courts have said that they would have handed down longer sentences if they had been available.  These new proposals will send a very clear signal to potential offenders that the abuse of animals has no place in our society.

 

This latest announcement is one of a number of steps we have taken to improve animal welfare recently.  We announced that we would introduce compulsory CCTV in slaughterhouses and are now consulting on that proposal.  This is necessary to ensure we can enforce the highest standards in slaughterhouses and, again, there have been too many instances of failure in the past.  Earlier this year, Defra published proposals to overhaul the laws on a number of animal-related licensing schemes, such as the regulations on pet shops and the licensing of puppy breeders.  I have campaigned to strengthen the licensing of puppy breeding since becoming an MP so I am pleased to be moving this forward.  

 

Media reporting of party conferences will always be dominated by personality politics and big speeches and this year is no different.  However, sometimes there are issues that attract less media interest but which are nevertheless important steps forward.