“Then it was ratcheted up to last night where I was threatened. I had a call from the Prime Minister’s Office directly and I was told unless I withdrew this motion that the Prime Minister himself said that he would look upon it ‘very dimly indeed’. Well I have a message for the whips and for the Prime Minister of our country – and I didn’t pick a fight with the Prime Minister – I may just be a little council house lad from a very poor background but that background gave me a backbone. It gives me a thick skin and I’m not going to be cowed by the whips of the Prime Minister on an issue I feel passionately about and have conviction about.”

- Mark Pritchard, Conservative backbencher

We’re obviously not experts on politics in the UK, but it seems like something rather good has happened across the Pond recently. Despite pressure from people within the government to back a licensing structure for wild animals in circuses, MPs from all parties voted unanimously against the notion and pushed instead for a complete ban on wild animals in the circus.

Although I’m not 100% sure if this means the government will make it a law, or if they could ignore the suggestion, the idea that a large political body would recommend the removal of wild animals in circuses is a great stride forward. So, kudos to organizations such as Animal Defenders International and the Royal SPCA, as well as Mark Pritchard, who have no doubt been fighting for such a thing for some time now.