The government has shelved a flagship animal welfare bill in Parliament—blaming “scope creep”—but has been accused of betrayal by campaigners.
On Thursday, environment minister Mark Spencer told the House Commons the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill would not go forward but he insisted many of the issues it was designed to combat would be tackled, including a permanent ban on the export of live animals.
Spencer said the bill—which has suffered a series of delays since it was first tabled in June 2021—could not go ahead because the inclusion of a number of amendments meant it went far beyond commitments made in the Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto….