Sentience of animals Bill ‘can be hijacked’

TORY donors have written to the Prime Minister to warn that a new law recognising the sentience of animals is at risk of being “hijacked” by activists.

Party donors, Conservative MPS and countryside groups have raised concern that the Animal Sentience Bill will pave the way for infrastructure projects to be blocked if they damage areas populated by wildlife.

Lord Spencer of Alresford, the billionaire Tory Party donor, is among those opposed to the Bill.

The peer, who raised around £100million for the party when he was treasurer, said he was “opposed to the Bill in its current very poorly drafted form”.

The Bill will recognise in law that animals are sentient and therefore feel pain. If it becomes law, it will see the creation of an animal sentience committee which will assess if ministers had considered “the welfare of animals as sentient beings” in policy decisions.

The legislation, currently being debated in the House of Lords, was introduced by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, the animal welfare minister who is a close ally of Carrie Johnson, a vocal campaigner for animals.

Critics have also expressed concern that activists could “hijack” the Bill in an effort to ban the extermination of vermin on farms, game shooting and kosher and halal meat slaughter.

Peter Hargreaves, who donated £1 million to the Tories’ 2019 election campaign, is not a signatory to the letter but is reportedly dismayed by the proposed laws.

Tory backbench MPS including Bill Wiggin, James Gray, Sheryll Murray, Greg Smith and Richard Drax, have also privately expressed concerns, according to The Times.