Dr Danny Chambers

I absolutely applaud that. That is a very important intervention. The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance has reported that since 2015, overall antibiotic use in livestock has been reduced by 59%. That is a huge reduction and is very much industry-led. In the UK, farmers are not permitted to treat unless there is a diagnosis of an illness and an appropriate antibiotic, whereas in other countries antibiotics are essentially given as a substitute for low hygiene standards and to act as growth promoters. The previous Conservative Government promised the biggest boost to animal welfare in a generation, but they scrapped the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, failed to act on the 2018 Stacey review and abandoned their own pledge to consult on ending the use of cages for farmed animals. I believe that we should work towards ending the use of farrowing crates, but we cannot do so overnight. We must do it in partnership with farmers, not at their expense. We must be honest with the public, fair to producers and ambitious for animal welfare. I will finish by quoting probably the most famous veterinary surgeon of all, James Herriot: “If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”