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Farm Animal Welfare

Yes. One measure of a civilised society is how we treat our fellow animals. What I am concerned about and what I know the hon. Gentleman is concerned about is how we use the power of the public purse to achieve the transformation to which he refers. It is incredibly important. The Government have not used their power appropriately or sufficiently and have failed to build animal welfare and other, broader ethical concerns into their procurement policies when they could have done so. In response to the intervention from my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams), the hon. Member for Sunderland, South referred to the reality, which is that McDonald's is ahead of the UK Government. I would have thought that was a serious embarrassment to the UK Government and an indictment not only of the policies of central Government, but also of the many different agencies and bodies that spend taxpayers' money. There is much to be horrified by, as has been said, but we can be encouraged by the fact that animal welfare standards in the UK are just about the best in the world, and that includes welfare standards at farms that are industrial in scale. As a consequence of our high standards, consumers, including me, buy British as a fairly reliable proxy for shopping ethically. Buying British not only reduces food miles while supporting local farmers, but rewards producers who put animal welfare at the heart of everything that they do, not just in egg production but with regard to all food production.