Government ministers have agreed to ban the use of wild animals in British circus
attractions after a long debate in the House of Commons.
Conservative MP Mark Pritchard led the movement to introduce the ban and
claimed he had been threatened by representatives of the Prime Minister unless he
backed down.
Without an official vote, the Commons have decided to direct the Government to
enforce the ban from July 2012. The coalition are not yet obliged to introduce the
full ban, but Thursday’s result is an embarrassment to those MPs who maintain that
there are legal obstacles to ending the use of wild animals.
During the debate, Mr Pritchard defied his opposition in an announcement to his
fellow MPs that he was offered ‘incentive and reward’ if he ceased to pursue the
ban. The Wrekin MP said that when he continued to lobby the motion, pressure
was ‘ratcheted’ up on him.
Mr Pritchard said: ‘I had a call from the Prime Minister’s office directly and I was told
that, unless I withdraw this motion, the Prime Minister himself said he would look
upon it very dimly indeed.’
‘I will not be bullied by any other whips. This is an issue I have campaigned on for
many years.’
He added that it was a ‘mystery’ why the coalition Government was opposing a ban
of the practice.
Mr Pritchard’s motion called for the introduction of ‘regulation banning the use of all
wild animals in circuses’ from July 2012, and was also signed by Bob Russell, Lib Dem
MP for Colchester and Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse.
At the time of the debate, there were three travelling circuses currently in the UK,
with a total of 39 wild animals, including lions, tigers, zebras, and camels.
