I am a strong supporter of animal welfare and have long been a member of the Labour Animal Welfare Society. At this year’s Labour Party Conference I visited the UK’s leading animal welfare charity, the RSPCA, to show my support for their current campaigns. The Labour Party has a positive history of legislating for higher animal welfare standards. During my time as a Minister at the Department for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Government stopped giving licences to test finished cosmetic products on animals and banned fur farming in England and Wales by introducing the Fur Farming Prohibition Act in 2000.