Animal Welfare Bill

I take that point. As I have said, I want a certain result; that certain animals are not kept in travelling circuses. I am happy to be guided as to how we get there; whether it is a simple one-line amendment or whether we give powers to the Secretary of State. Part of the reason for the amendment is to find out the Minister’s stance, which will govern what I do. Having read recent press reports, I know that the Minister is sympathetic and is going in the same direction as me, although he may have a different way of achieving the result. I do not know whether my hon. Friend the Minister wishes to confirm anything at this stage, but my understanding is that he wants to bring in regulations that will prohibit certain animals from being kept in travelling circuses and that he does want to start regulating the winter quarters of travelling and static circuses. This is not quite a probing amendment but, as a result of the Minister’s press statement, I wanted to put on the record tonight how we will achieve what I and many others want in terms of the keeping of large cats in travelling circuses. If the Minister is amenable to my suggestion, I will probably seek further clarification. If not, I would be inclined to push this to a vote. However, it depends on what my hon. Friend the Minister says. I know that many others want to speak on many other subjects and I feel that I have detained the House for far too long this evening—[Hon. Members: ““Hear, hear.””] Some people are not terrible savvy; that tempts me to continue. I have taken the names of those who cheered there and I will not be quite so generous in giving way in future. I hope the Minister will be sympathetic to what we are proposing and that the Government can take forward what I, my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) and many others are trying to achieve. I hope that he will agree to that tonight.