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Animal Welfare Bill

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, for his eloquent contribution. It was a relief not to hear him remonstrate with me. I thank also the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, for her contribution. I was increasingly cheered by the Minister’s reply as it went on. She seemed to begin by asking whether it was necessary for the Government to take action, but by the end of her reply I think that she said that the Government were going to take some action. I have a couple of queries. If this code is introduced and only specialist keepers are able to keep primates, there will be a considerable time lag for the thousands of primates which are being kept at the moment and which will live for several further decades. I presume that the code would apply only to new keepers of primates or to pets being newly acquired. Obviously, some primates would be kept for 30 or 40 years by people who might not be considered appropriate under the new code.