The government’s Animal Welfare Strategy published today (22 December) is no surprise. Many of the measures such as the ban on “snare traps” and trail hunting were contained in Labour’s manifesto.

The Countryside Alliance has always supported the highest animal welfare standards - but always based on science and evidence. This strategy will have far reaching consequences, and potentially damaging consequences, for farmers, rural communities and for wildlife and biodiversity.

As the government consults on the various elements of this latest strategy the Countryside Alliance will continue to work with government and others to try to ensure that policy and law is based on principle and evidence, and actually delivers for the countryside, its people, animals and wildlife. Simply banning things almost always means failing to take a proportionate and evidence-based approach. Bans are generally driven more by ideology and emotion, with inevitable unintended and harmful consequences.

There is a danger that this welfare strategy is little more than virtue signalling, that in some areas will do more harm than good. Why are we banning puppy farming when it was banned years ago? There are already extensive 2018 regulations around the breeding and sale of dogs that followed extensive consultation. A closed season on hares will do nothing to help the hare population, and the loss of a vital tool to control foxes will threaten the future of some of our most vulnerable and endangered species, including ground nesting birds such as curlew and lapwing.

Improving animal welfare in farming is, of course, welcome - but there is little point in setting ever higher standards at home while allowing the import of products produced in countries with lower standards.

The government talks about food security and ensuring imported food is produced to equal standards to domestic production, but unless our higher welfare farming standards are mirrored in our trade policy, there is a real risk that we will simply export our farming industry abroad and become increasingly reliant on cheaper imports.

The farming community needs a level playing field to compete fairly. Farmers need an environment in which they can invest with confidence for the long term. Yet with the family farm tax, ever rising costs, falling incomes, a distorted market and a government that seems neither to understand nor care, there seems little hope for profitable, sustainable family farming in this country.

The government seems to have forgotten that we already have extensive laws to protect animal welfare. The last Labour government passed the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which enshrined the five freedoms into law nearly twenty years ago. What we really need is the proper use and enforcement of the laws we have and not yet more parliamentary time spent on yet more legislation.

As for trail hunting, the government wants to ban the very thing it told hunts to do when the Hunting Act went through in 2004. That Act was the result of over 700 hours of debate. Those who proposed the ban were determined to ignore the evidence then and it seems that they are determined to do so again.