[doganjo]

Written Answers - Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Poultry: Animal Welfare (21 Jun 2010)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2010-06-21a.3621.h&s=speaker%3A12005#g3621.q0
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs when her Department plans to implement the ban on
conventional battery cages for egg-laying hens.

Written Answers - Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Poultry: Animal Welfare (21 Jun 2010)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2010-06-21a.3622.h&s=speaker%3A12005#g3622.q0
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs when her Department plans to implement the ban on
beak-trimming of egg-laying hens.

[Fleecewife]

Excellent.  Will be interested in seeing the answers to those questions.

[Rosemary]

Me too. Did you ask him to ask, Annie?

[doganjo]

Yes, sent him an email.  He's also helping to stop the night coal trains. 

[Rosemary]

He does seem to be very hardworking on behalf of his constituents, and honest, which counts for a lot. Probably why he increased his majority from 600 to 6000 in May.

[doganjo]

He does seem to be very hardworking on behalf of his constituents, and honest, which counts for a lot. Probably why he increased his majority from 600 to 6000 in May.

Was it not a bit less than that? - 3000 plus a bit - and there was an increase in the population, wasn't that about about 4000?

[Rosemary]

No, 6000 more or less, I'm sure. I was pretty tired by then but I think he had 16000, and Anabelle Ewing about 10000.

[doganjo]

Just looked it up, you're pretty well right, the figures were a bit higher but the gap was about 5000, but there was an increase in the population of 4000. So I suppose most of teh newcomers must have voted fro him too.

[doganjo]

James Paice (Minister of State (Agriculture and Food), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)

The welfare of laying hens is protected in England by the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 and by similar legislation in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The legislation implements EU directive 99/74/EC, which among other welfare advances, bans the use of conventional cages for laying hens from 2012.

The Government remain entirely committed to the conventional cage ban coming into force on 1 January 2012 and to supporting industry during this transitional stage. We want to ensure that those UK producers who have already made significant investment to comply with the legislation, by converting out of conventional cages, are not disadvantaged if other countries do not meet the 2012 deadline.

James Paice (Minister of State (Agriculture and Food), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)

The Government have accepted the advice of the Farm Animal Welfare Council, an independent advisory body, that a complete ban on beak trimming of laying hens should not be introduced from 1 January 2011 (as is currently in legislation), but should be deferred until it can be demonstrated reliably under commercial conditions that laying hens can be managed without routine beak trimming.

The Government's consultation on the proposed amendments to the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007, to remove the total ban on beak trimming allowing for the routine beak trimming of day old chicks intended for laying to be carried out using the infra-red technique only, closed on the 14 April. Consultation responses are currently being considered.

[Rosemary]

The questions is why do we continue to undermine OUR farmers, who do comply, by allowing the import os produce from countries with less stringent standards than we have here, therefore making our farmers subject to unfair competition.

[doganjo]

Ask Gordon that question - you can email him.