Animal Sentience Bill gets mauled (again)

It hasn’t been a great 24 hours for Downing Street. Under fire for its lockdown-busting Christmas party, facing fury over the Afghanistan debacle, surely solace could be found from the fray in the rarefied atmosphere of the House of Lords? Sadly not, for yesterday their noble lordships turned their aristocratic fire on the government’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. The flagship legislation, which Mr S has covered extensively, is designed to protect helpless creatures and recognise they can feel pain by creating a new super-committee to judge the effects of government policies. Lobsters and octopi are to now be included; ministers forced to do morning media rounds are sadly not.

And yesterday, as the bill completed its Report Stage in the Lords, ministers exhibited the same kamikaze sang-froid that has characterised their approach to this issue. Despite criticism from across the House – with one peer dubbing the proposed new law as a ‘shocking piece of legislation’ – it now looks to be going to the Commons virtually unamended.