I very much welcome the Minister's statement. There has been a long-running campaign, but I have fully supported it over several years to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. A ban already exists in Scotland.

In 2006, which is a long time ago now, in a public consultation across the UK, 94.5 per cent of people responding thought banning the use of wild animals in circuses would be the best method to achieve animal welfare. The majority of respondents to the Minister have said 97 per cent, and Wales last year supported the ban. There is one thing we can be certain of: we've got the public on our side. I welcome the proposed ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses; I think its time has come. We're in the twenty-first century and not the nineteenth.

Two questions: why is it intended that a circus will still be allowed to keep wild animals as long as they are not exhibited or used in performances? I find that is what's normally described as a loophole. And the second question is: will the use of birds of prey for outside exhibitions still be allowed?