At last! The abhorrent export of live animals to Europe is about to end

...four years after I was mocked for saying it would be a huge benefit of Brexit

IN CATHEDRALS, churches and schools all over the country this Christmas, the traditional crib has once again been at the centre of our celebrations. Some cribs are expensive, shop-bought representations of the birth of Jesus in the manger. Others, perhaps, have been more lovingly created by children; out of Plasticine, straw and toys.

All, of course, show the Nativity in its humble origin. The stable, baby Jesus with mother Mary and Joseph, the shepherds tending their flocks, the three wise men and the lowing animals.

It’s an inspiring tableau that reminds us of the affinity between the Son of God and the animal kingdom over which, so the Bible tells us, we have dominion.

This Christmas there is a special reason for those of us who care for animals to view that bond with an extra glow of pride.

Parliament has just overcome what is expected to be the last hurdle in a Bill to ban the export of live animals to Europe and beyond, which has led to untold suffering and cruelty for millions of sheep, mainly, but for cattle, horses and pigs as well.

Ever since we joined the European Union it has been impossible to halt this disgusting trade, which has seen animals, used to the green fields in Britain, herded into tightly packed trucks.

They have then had to travel thousands of miles across a continent in shocking conditions that can last several weeks, often without food or water or veterinary care, to end their lives having their throats slit in some filthy abattoir, without being humanely stunned first.

The European Court of Justice has always blocked Britain from banning the trade on the grounds it would impede the operation of the European Single Market.

Mercifully, Brexit freed us from the European stranglehold and we are now able at last to show that Britain really is a country above all others that cares for and respects animals.

THE Second Reading of the Bill banning live exports passed through Parliament last week unopposed, supported by all political parties and is expected to become law in the New Year. The battle to achieve victory by my fellow campaigners – the Conservative MP Theresa Villiers, Joanna Lumley, the explorer Ranulph Fiennes, animal behaviour specialist Celia Haddon, those at the charity Compassion In World Farming and, touchingly, a previously anonymous pensioner from Romford, Essex called Janet Darlison – has been a long, hard and often heartbreaking road.

It has seen sometimes violent demonstrations and pitched battles between protesters and hauliers in ports around the south and east coast, such as Brightlingsea, Shoreham and Dover, where animals have been herded from trucks on to ships on their barbaric journeys.

Many of the ships were little better than rust buckets and at Ramsgate in 2012 the transfer of animals was so chaotic that 45 sheep had to be put down.

Some had broken legs, others drowned when they fell i nto the water.

Many campaigners have risked their lives going undercover to track hauliers carrying animals across Europe. They have documented the brutal conditions animals suffer after being sold to Muslim countries such as Libya, Turkey and Algeria, which require live animals in order to comply with halal slaughter rituals.

The Bill that is soon to become law was introduced by Miss Villiers who has persevered with it, heroically, in the face of countless objections from the livestock trade. ‘Vital ethical principles are at the heart of this long-running debate,’ Miss Villiers insists.

‘The principle that, as sentient beings, animals cannot be treated simply as a commodity; the principle that a civilised society must ensure that all animals, particularly those used by humans as part of our food supply and for other purposes, are treated with compassion and spared unnecessary suffering; and the principle that sending livestock to other jurisdictions over which we have no control violates our moral responsibility.’

Many livestock dealers faced with the loss of their lucrative trade have lobbied and campaigned bitterly against the ending of live transportation.

An old sheep will sell in the UK for £70 but one destined for onward travel in the EU can fetch more than £200. This gives us some understanding of the vast profits made by a trade that at its height in the UK saw two million animals a year being sent to the Continent for slaughter.

I live in rural North Yorkshire surrounded by meadows full of grazing sheep and cattle. A bucolic pastoral scene. Every spring I see lambs being born, and later in the year the trucks arrive to cart them off, some for export. It is always gut-wrenching.

Perhaps because of this, I felt I had a duty to give these creatures a voice when I was asked to take part in a Channel 4 debate on the eve of the Brexit vote in 2016.

When I was asked by Jeremy Paxman, the adjudicator, how I thought Britain would benefit from leaving the EU, I said we could at last stop live exports. Shockingly, many of the comments from high-profile people also taking part stopped me in my tracks. The writer Will Self was captured on camera raising his eyes to the heavens as if animal welfare was too trivial for words.

Jeremy, perhaps flustered, appeared to take his cue from the groans among the famous and fashionable and then allowed luminaries such as the actress Sheila Hancock and singer Sandie Shaw to speak at length about what concerned them about Brexit.

It was clear they did not think this issue of live exports worth discussing. I was cut off after 30 seconds. In some ways, I felt this was indicative of the attitude of far too many of the great and the good in Britain who can’t be bothered with the plight of animals.

Fortunately, however, Janet Darlison – the pensioner from Essex I mentioned earlier – who was watching the show, became so incensed at the way my concerns were rubbished by the debate’s participants that she contacted me to say she had made up her mind: she was voting for Brexit and wanted to know what she could do to help.

I suggested she start an online petition to try to raise 100,000 signatures demanding a ban on live exports, the number needed for the subject to be debated in Parliament.

DESPITE not having any computer skills, Janet roped in her friend and neighbour Paul Ellis, and together they launched a petition that quickly gained momentum, joining forces with welfare charities such as Compassion in World Farming, Eyes On Animals and the Conservative Animal Welfare Organisation.

Janet’s inspirational action showed just what grassroots support can achieve when all seems to have failed. Within a year, our small campaign, which included the star make-up artist Barbara Daly and her husband Laurence, mushroomed into a call to arms in the Great Hall of Westminster, scene of the trial of Charles I.

The hall was crammed with celebrities as well as MPs from all political parties. Ranulph Fiennes, for instance, was determined to add his support so drove up from his home in the West Country and roughed it by sleeping overnight in his car.

At last, politicians had begun to understand that banning live exports was popular with the public and that there were votes to be gained.

Boris Johnson, when he was elected Prime Minister, made it a key part of his Tory manifesto.

It has taken nearly four years since Brexit, but finally it appears that Britain is about to take an historic decision, following the lead of other countries such as New Zealand to protect animals in this way.

By this time next year, happily, the abhorrent live export trade will have ended and we can gaze on those Christmas cribs with a renewed sense of pride in Britain’s commitment to animals and their welfare.

Animals crammed into trucks travelled thousands of miles to have their throats slit in filthy abattoirs