Irene Campbell

I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 706302 relating to the use of cages and crates for farmed animals. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. The petition is titled: “End the use of cages and crates for all farmed animals”, and it was created by Dame Joanna Lumley. It has reached over 105,000 signatures, and it states: “We think the UK Government must ban all cages for laying hens as soon as possible. We think it should also ban the use of all cage and crates for all farmed animals including: farrowing crates for sows…individual calf pens…cages for other birds, including partridges, pheasants and quail…Every year in the UK, millions of farmed animals experience huge suffering confined in cages. From millions of laying hens unable to express their natural behaviours to mother pigs nursing their piglets confined in narrow crates, to calves, quail and game birds.” Surely we cannot allow this to continue. When polled, most people are against cages for farmed animals, and this debate provides an opportunity to highlight the seriousness of the issue and encourage a more rapid solution and approach to phasing cages out. For example, it must be viewed as positive that we have reached a figure of 80% for free-range chickens, and I will say more about that later.