Animal Welfare Bill

: The hon. Gentleman has mentioned certain controversial issues that he wants to address by tabling amendments or new clauses in Committee or on Report. Surely, a more constructive and coherent approach would be to find a mechanism whereby the House can scrutinise the secondary legislation. We have been told that there will be consultation on that. Fine, but the legislation will then come back under the existing procedures of the House. The hon. Member for East Surrey rightly pointed out that the Statutory Instruments Committee was not an adequate forum to provide such scrutiny. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is minded to scrutinise many of these issues, but would the hon. Gentleman’s party support finding an imaginative way—not just through an Adjournment debate or a Select Committee—for the House to make decisions on some of those issues? Would not that be the healthiest way of getting them aired, dealt with and decided?