I am incredibly grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part today. My noble friend Lady Hodgson was absolutely right
to say that we must not be complacent and she had a powerful message, which is one for us all to note: that the price of an Instagram selfie is indescribable, sickening cruelty—and more people need to understand that.
The noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, underlined the threats to human life, including the spread of zoonotic diseases, another important issue which had not been raised in the debate. I am grateful to her and to the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, for raising some important issues. I associate myself with the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, about Save the Asian Elephants and the work of Duncan McNair. I too have no doubt that we would not be at this point if it was not for that tireless campaigning.
I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister for making clear, with his customary eloquence and passion, the Government’s continuing commitment and support, and for answering so many of the questions involved. This may not be an absolutely perfect Bill, but it is a very good start, and it is important that we get it on the statute book as soon as possible—I think we will all have taken note of the important things that he said about timing. I am also grateful for his commitment to working with the devolved Governments to achieve UK-wide implementation as soon as that is practical.
As I said earlier, our struggle to improve animal welfare is a long and continuing journey but, at the end of the day, those we are seeking to protect have no voice of their own. What we as a House are showing today in supporting this Bill is that we can be that voice, and that we will not let them down. There is much to do, but this is a vital staging post in our journey. I hope we can make swift progress in getting it on to the statute book as soon as possible.