---

Animal Welfare Bill

I support the amendment of the noble Baroness; indeed, I have put my name to it. As an aside, I am about to give my noble friend the Minister a great deal of political hope, if he wishes to look at it in that light. It was 30 years ago that I sat where he sat in the first Grand Committee held in the Moses Room. Believe it or not, we were considering the Licensing (Scotland) Bill in 1976. There you are, you have 30 years of this in front of you—and that is an awful thought, I am sure. The noble Baroness carefully and in explicit terms talked about the Bill in its true context. I wish to express an aspect of public opinion. I am opposed to the use of performing animals in circuses. I believe that they are trained cruelly—in fact, I know that they are and I have seen some absolute evidence to that end, although I will not go into that today. They travel in restricted circumstances. Their exercise, such as it is when it is available, is limited. In the 21st century, we should turn away from that altogether as a means of entertaining people. I do not wish to say more at this stage, because I do not have anything useful to add to the more detailed points made so succinctly by the noble Baroness. But today, in the 21st century, there must surely be a chance to put this provision on the face of a new Act.