Council first to ban unstunned halal meat after bitter row with Muslims

A COUNCIL has become the first in Britain to ban unstunned halal meat in school dinners.

Conservative-controlled Lancashire County Council voted for the ban after a debate which ran on for hours yesterday and a bitterly-fought campaign between Geoff Driver, the leader, and the local Muslim community.

The council supplies 27 schools with unstunned halal meat. The National Secular Society says four other councils use unstunned meat – Leeds, Bradford, Leicester, and Telford and Wrekin. Many Muslims will not eat meat from pre-stunned animals as they worry the process could kill the animals, and eating meat from livestock which died before slaughter is forbidden.

In documents, seen by The Daily Telegraph, the council warned there could be financial implications if it lost school catering contracts due to a boycott. Cllr Driver said: “This is an animal welfare issue, nothing more, nothing less.”

Abdul Qureshi, acting chief executive of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, was advocating children boycott their school lunches if the vote went against him. He told The Telegraph: “[The RSPCA’S guidance] is most of the time based on feelings, it’s not scientifically conclusive.”

But the RSPCA said: “Ourselves, the British Veterinary Association and the Humane Slaughter Association signed a joint statement saying the only humane way to kill an animal is to stun it.”