Foie gras and fur trade bans are still on the menu, says Goldsmith
BANS on the import and sale of fur and foie gras will go ahead, despite a row within Government, Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park has pledged.
The minister for the pacific and the environment told The Daily Telegraph he is “completely committed” to the move.
The two measures were part of an Animals Abroad Bill scrapped earlier this year amid opposition from ministers who deemed it “un-conservative”.
Production of fur and foie gras is already banned in the UK, but the bill would have outlawed trade in the products on the grounds of preventing animal cruelty.
It was also set to contain restrictions on UK advertising of overseas animal practices considered to be cruel, such as elephant rides, and the import of shark fins and animal head “trophies” from big game hunting.
Lord Goldsmith said he was “absolutely convinced” that all the original restrictions would be adopted “this session” in a different format. “That is not the same as saying we will have an Animals Abroad Bill: there are lots of different ways of taking it through [parliament],” he said.
“The Government has reaffirmed its commitment on trophy hunting – that’s the one that attracts the most attention – but we haven’t changed our position on the other stuff. The Government’s position is that we support all those things that I just mentioned. The question is how we are going to deliver that.
“Obviously we would be stupid to pretend there’s total harmony within Government about all these issues, but the Government position remains committed to that stuff and as a minister who will be tasked with taking it through, I’m completely committed to doing so.”
Speaking as the Government announced £6.4million in funding for 20 conservation projects in the UK’S overseas territories, Lord Goldsmith said that results from the Cop26 conference – at which more than 100 countries pledged to halt and reverse deforestation – were a “mixed bag”, citing Colombia and Costa Rica as countries which had taken the measures forward.
“There isn’t actually a tension between protecting, preserving and using wisely what we have and economic growth and development,” he said. “There are very few examples of what needs to happen environmentally that will be a challenge in real terms.”
As UK energy bills soar, Lord Goldsmith disputed claims that nearly a quarter of the cost of household electricity is made up of green taxes used to fund renewable energy subsidy schemes.
“We hear 25 per cent of the bill is because of green levies: it’s just not true,” he said. “It’s not even close to being true. It’s probably more like four and a half, five per cent.
“In any case, these are contracts that were signed years ago in order to stimulate and boost the renewable energy sector. You can’t just tear them up – if we did we’d become a basket case country.
“There are opportunistic people pushing around this issue of green levies, who either haven’t understood it or who are just being mischievous.”