Michael Gove is scrabbling to deal with a PR crisis surrounding Tories' refusal to keep animal rights in the Brexit bill

The reaction to the vote has caught the Conservatives off guard. Gove even had to issue a statement today defending the 303 MPs who joined the DUP to defeat the RSPCA-backed proposal

Don't believe what Michael Gove says: animals excluded from protection or recognition as 'sentient beings' include foxes and badgers (Getty)

Unlike slogans pasted on the side of a bus, there is one statement that will remain unchanged even in these most uncertain of Brexit times: we Brits care about animals.

Specifically, we think it is rather important to acknowledge that our fellow animals have the same capacity to endure stress, to experience excitement, and, most importantly, to feel pain.

It is why the backlash against the 313 MPs who voted down an amendment, Caroline Lucas’s amendment, to the EU Withdrawal Bill to ensure the UK continues to recognise that animals are sentient beings should not come as a surprise to anybody.

But it has. The reaction to the vote, from animal lovers from across the political spectrum, has caught the Conservative Government completely off guard.

And, with Number 10 in panic mode, Michael Gove has been forced to issue a statement today defending the 303 Tory MPs who joined the DUP to defeat the RSPCA-backed proposal to transfer the EU protocol on animal sentience into UK law – which was supported by every other Parliamentary political party.

Britain can, largely, be proud of our contribution to positive animal welfare action as a member of the European Union. In fact, for many years now we have been a force good in Europe when it comes to animal protection. Unlike many other areas – where our neighbours have dragged us towards progressive policymaking – we’ve actively engaged on animal welfare, and generally used our significant powers within the EU for good.

It was 20 years ago when Britain used its presidency of the European Union to push for a groundbreaking change in the way animals were treated across the continent. A protocol adopted in 1999 meant that, for the first time, animals were to be regarded as sentient beings, not just agricultural goods - ensuring that all future legislation must account of animal wellbeing.

It was a historic moment for animal protection and since then over 20 pieces of European law on animal welfare have been adopted, including the ban on conventional battery cages and the ban on cosmetics testing on animals.

In 2009, after years of pan-European campaigning, the original animal sentience protocol was incorporated into the Lisbon Treaty and agreed by every country in the EU. It requires policymakers to pay “full regard” to animal welfare in policymaking, since “animals are sentient beings”. It was a moment of celebration for campaigners, especially those in the UK who had been the driving force behind this win.

Sadly, with the Tories now ideologically committed to marching the UK towards a hard Brexit, we're faced with an Environment Secretary that, despite talking a good game on animal welfare issues, has stepped forward to defend an indefensible decision that could see two decades of hard-fought-for protections unravel.

Although England and Wales has one of the world’s oldest animal welfare laws (The Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822) and now has hundreds of laws aiming to improve animal welfare, there is no legal instrument other than contained within EU law that states that animals are sentient beings.

The current Animal Welfare Act 2006 does not contain one mention of the word “sentience” and only seeks to prevent the “unnecessary” and “avoidable” suffering of animals. The idea that animals can be subjected to an acceptable and necessary level of suffering is at odds with recognising that, as sentient beings, animals can feel pain and emotions.

The act is also limited in its scope - and aimed at animal owners, not governments. It does not apply to all animals, including wildlife, and has explicit exemptions for others, including laboratory animals. Foxes, badgers and laboratory rats, for example, fall outside of the scope of the act.

So when Gove attempts to reassure voters that he will ensure "the sentience of animals will continue to be recognised" in the UK, as he has today, it is important to note that he offers no detail on how that promise will be fulfilled - except that he believes it wouldn't be appropriate to do so through the EU Withdrawal Bill.

There is no reason to exclude animal sentience from the Withdrawal Bill; in fact, there are a number of good reasons to ensure it is in there, including the important symbolic, ethical and practical statement it would make to have the UK Government, as the original proposer of this idea, re-commit to it as part of the Brexit process.

It would also help address what is, ultimately, one of the key issues behind the backlash against the vote last week: the Government's inability to inspire trust over animal welfare issues. While we welcome some of Michael Gove’s new policies - including a ban on ivory sales, CCTV in slaughterhouses and a ban on bee-killing pesticides - they are not enough to allay our, and campaigners’, wider doubts over the Government's commitment to animal welfare.

This is, after all, a government with a manifesto promise to bring back fox-hunting, a commitment to the badger cull, and a history of failing to deliver a ban on circus animals or the keeping of primates as pets.

As Greens, we know we have millions of Brits on our side and will continue to push the Government on animal sentience and keep fighting to ensure animal welfare standards aren't thrown under the Brexit bus.

Keith Taylor is a senior Green Party MEP