LONDON, 7th September 2022
Yesterday (Wednesday 7th September) the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) welcomed the appointment of Ranil Jayawardena MP by new Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister the Rt Hon. Liz Truss MP.
CAWF is calling for a number of key animal welfare commitments included in the Conservative Party Manifesto 2019 and the subsequent Action Plan for Animal Welfare to be delivered by the new Defra Secretary, including:
- Supporting the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill which would end live exports for fattening and slaughter.
- Honouring existing commitments to consult on ending cages for laying hens and sows on British farms.
- Supporting Henry Smith MP’s Private Members Bill to ban trophy hunting imports, a measure included in both the 2019 Manifesto and Action Plan for Animal Welfare.
- Maintaining commitments not to undermine British farmers in trade deals, in order to ensure British farmers are not undercut by cheap low-welfare foreign goods.
In August CAWF welcomed Patron Lord Zac Goldsmith’s confirmation that Ms Truss will support the Kept Animals Bill into law during the Conservative Environment Network’s Environmental Leadership Hustings. This was reiterated again at the Conservative Rural Forum (CRF) hustings at the end of August, where Heather Wheeler MP confirmed on behalf of Ms Truss that the Kept Animals Bill would be supported into law.
You can read more about CAWF’s campaigning during the Conservative Party Leadership contest here, and Co-Founder Lorraine Platt’s comment piece in Politics Home here.
Lorraine Platt, Co-Founder of Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, commented: “Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation is delighted to welcome Ranil Jayawardena MP as Secretary of State for Defra. Having founded the APPG on Endangered Species it is clear Ranil Jayawardena brings a wealth of experience to the role.
“It is our hope that he will build on the great progress of the last two years and continue important legislation such as the Kept Animals Bill, as well as deliver on commitments on hold consultations on ending cages for laying hens and sows on British farms.
“We were pleased to hear Liz Truss’ team confirm that the Kept Animals Bill will be honoured under Ms Truss’ leadership, and we invite Ranil Jayawardena to share detail on how this will materialise over the coming weeks.
“We look forward to supporting the new Secretary of State and working closely with him and his Ministerial team on advancing animal welfare in the UK.”
About Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF)
The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation was established in 2016 to raise awareness on the lives of billions of animals reared on intensive farms around the world and how this impact upon animal welfare, the environment and people’s health. We want to highlight the action people can take to help advance farm animal welfare.
Animal welfare is an increasing concern amongst the public, who frequently look to Government to take the lead in both maintaining and improving standards.
The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation believes it is highly important that the welfare of farm animals is placed at the forefront of the Governments plan for food and farming along with its focus on productivity, competitiveness, and technology. Media contact: Sophia Stileman (sophia.stileman@conservativeanimalwelfarefoundation.org
