Former VMG boss ‘sad’ at Lords exit

A senior veterinary sector figure has questioned Government understanding of its present challenges after bowing out of frontline politics.

Former VMG president Miles Russell said he was “sad” to have left the House of Lords after changes to its structure came into force last month.

But he also backed other leading figures’ plea for professional unity to help secure political backing for legislative reform once proposals for it are finalised.

‘Singing as one’

He said: “When the Veterinary Surgeons Act does come, certainly the BVA and the RCVS have to be singing as one. They have to agree. If they don’t, MPs will not touch it.”

Mr Russell was speaking after his time as one of the last hereditary peers to sit in the second chamber ended ahead of the start of the new Parliamentary session in May.

As the 28th Baron de Clifford, he first entered the Lords in the autumn of 2023 as a crossbencher, under an electoral system established after most hereditary peers were removed from the chamber in the 1990s.

However, new legislation passed following Labour’s election victory two years ago has brought that system to an end, although some members are set to return as life peers.

Future

Mr Russell stressed he did not object to its principle, but admitted being “sad and disappointed to be made redundant” at a time when several key issues for the sector remain unresolved.

He added he would “absolutely” return to Westminster if the opportunity presented itself in the future.

He said: “I’m still keeping an interest in it and if, by some miracle, I get back in again, I would love it. I’d love to support this amazing industry we’re in.”

While legislative reform and the CMA process have been the main subjects of recent political focus, Mr Russell highlighted the ongoing discussions between the UK and EU as a vital area for continuing scrutiny.

Delays

He was also critical of the delays in introducing secondary legislation to enforce measures including the Private Members Bill tabled by MP Danny Chambers, which received royal assent last December.

Although he praised Defra’s minister in the Lords, Baroness Hayman, he answered: “Not really” when asked whether he felt the veterinary sector’s issues were properly politically understood.

But despite concerns about what some industry figures have seen as an inappropriate conflation of the CMA process with legislative reform, Mr Russell argued the inquiry’s support for change was critical.

He said: “The biggest thing that came out of it is that there was a government agency which said the Veterinary Surgeons Act needs to be reformed.”