One of the highlights this month for me was the success of the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill in the Commons, introduced by my Liberal Democrat colleague Dr Danny Chambers MP. 

The Bill aims to protect animal welfare by restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets. The success of this Bill is a great example of how Parliament works when we pull together and the cross-party co-operation has been a refreshing change of pace in our increasingly divisive political environment.

Britain is a nation of animal lovers, and I am proud to count myself amongst that group. Like us, animals can experience suffering, pain and fear and they deserve to be respected and treated humanely. This Bill will stop pet mutilation in Britain once and for all, transforming animal welfare in this country to eradicate cruel practices that should have been wiped out years ago.

In all honesty I have found in politics that, on occasion, you are required to take a stance on incredible difficult and far-reaching issues, and I have had my fair share of sleepless nights thinking over votes in my head. Recently I have had to make a lot of tough judgement calls when it comes to my position on complex issues, like Assisted Dying or Personal Independence Payments, where all concerned parties have incredibly touching and heartrending anecdotes. 

It is nice then that I can safely say without a shadow of a doubt that voting for Danny’s Animal Welfare Bill was the right thing to do and I am proud to have been a small part of enshrining it into law.