SICK SLAUGHTER BEHIND MP MENU
Animal welfare groups have reacted with dismay to news that new menus in Parliament include meat from livestock slaughtered without first being stunned.
The halal meals are designed to accommodate the Muslim community.
While much halal meat in Britain comes from animals that are stunned before slaughter, a Freedom of Information request by the National Secular Society has revealed that the halal meals in Parliament uses meat from animals that are not pre-stunned.
“It’s lamentable that in accommodating halal dietary preferences, Parliament has chosen to prioritise a hard-line interpretation of Islam over animal welfare,” said the society’s chief executive Stephen Evans. “The vast majority of the British public want non-stun slaughter to end.”
The meals are also labelled kosher to appeal to the Jewish community, as animals killed for kosher meat are never pre-stunned.
An appalled Peter Stevenson from Compassion in World Farming said the slaughtering of animals by cutting their throats while they were still alive causes “huge suffering”.
“Successive governments have made it clear that they prefer animals to be pre-stunned. Parliament should not have a policy on its own premises that goes against that,” he said.
“I call on the relevant authorities to stop serving these meals immediately.”
Labour MP Charlotte Nichols lobbied for the meals, tweeting that they made Parliament more accessible.
She was supported by Labour’s Zarah Sultana, who tweeted she was “really pleased” they had been introduced.
It provoked angry responses, including one reading: “Allowing non-stun animal slaughter is a stain on our society.”