Rishi Sunak faces pressure from Carrie Johnson-backed group over animal welfare
Rishi Sunak is being urged to include a raft of animal welfare measures in the next Tory manifesto.
The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) – which counts Carrie Johnson among its patrons – has today published proposals including banning fur and foie gras imports and ending cages for laying hens.
Exclusive polling by Opinium for the influential campaign group shows 64 percent would feel more positively about a political party committed to animals.
CAWF co-founder Lorraine Platt said: “As the voice for animal welfare in the Conservative Party, it is our hope the measures set out in our manifesto today will be pledged in the upcoming 2024 general election manifesto.
“Today’s polling reveals just how highly Britain regards animal welfare as a voting consideration, with more than two-thirds of those polled feeling more positively about political parties who demonstrate a strong commitment to animals.”
Some 53 percent of those surveyed said the Tories should do more on animal welfare if re-elected at the general election, expected next year.
Just a quarter of 2019 Conservative voters said the party should do about as much as they are doing at the moment.
Crawley MP Henry Smith, who is a patron of CAWF, said: “We know that the UK is a nation of animal lovers, with policies to advance animal welfare ranking highly in the minds of the electorate when they cast their vote.
“It is therefore crucial that the Conservative Party pays close attention to the recommendations in today’s publication and ensures the 2024 manifesto adopts the same compassionate, conservative commitments which have rewarded the party in recent years.”
The campaign group’s manifesto proposals include enshrining core standards for animal welfare in future trade agreements.
They are calling for mandatory animal welfare labelling on meat products and more protection for farmed fish.
They also want to see pig farrowing crates – narrow metal cages mother pigs are kept in for weeks every time they give birth – phased out in tribute to murdered MP Sir David Amess, who campaigned on the issue.
Other proposals include banning snares used to trap wild animals, a timetable to end animal experiments and new penalties for owners whose dogs fatally attack another dog.
It comes as a number of commitments from the 2019 manifesto – including the Brexit promise to ban live animal exports – are yet to be delivered after Boris Johnson’s Kept Animals Bill was scrapped to the fury of campaigners.
The Government has insisted manifesto pledges would be kept through single-issue legislation.
Lord Goldsmith, a patron of CAWF and close ally of Mr Johnson, criticised the axing of the flagship animal welfare legislation in a scathing resignation letter yesterday as he quit as international environment minister.
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