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Animal Welfare Bill

I thank all noble Lords who have spoken, in particular the noble Lord, Lord Soulsby, for his expert support. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, particularly for her last point, which I think is very interesting and to which the Minister gave a frank response. Obviously, that is the background against which we shall argue that some of the later amendments are essential, because if these provisions are not in the Bill now, we will not have any chance in practice to amend them. Indeed, that brief exchange highlights the fact that the convention about statutory instruments was brought in when they were rarely used. The Joint Committee, when examining the various powers and so on, might want to look at this area of work. It can be hard to make sense of this sort of Bill. If the Bill were not amended at all, we could not then amend what will be very extensive secondary legislation. I am glad for the brief debate on that. I thank the Minister for his very helpful reply. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 1 agreed to. Clause 2 [““Protected animal””]: