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<blockquote data-quote="J Cookson" data-source="post: 6337436" data-attributes="member: 134556"><p>You may want to read this:</p><p><a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-04-03/debates/A6B3FD52-7243-4573-9580-48CD6C9A110A/Non-StunSlaughterOfAnimals" target="_blank">https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-04-03/debates/A6B3FD52-7243-4573-9580-48CD6C9A110A/Non-StunSlaughterOfAnimals</a></p><p></p><p>Extracts:</p><p></p><p>Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con):</p><p>The BVA believes “that slaughter without pre-stunning unnecessarily compromises animal welfare and that animals should be stunned before slaughter.”</p><p></p><p>Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con):</p><p>Does my hon. Friend agree that the situation could be vastly improved in the short term by changing our labelling laws and requiring products to be labelled to show whether stunning has taken place?</p><p></p><p>Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP):</p><p>Like the hon. Gentleman, I eat red meat regularly and I am also an animal lover. However, I do believe we can accommodate people. If we had the labelling to indicate whether stunning was used, people would have the opportunity to choose whether to buy that meat.</p><p></p><p>John Howell (Henley) (Con):</p><p> I understand what my hon. Friend is saying about stunning, but unfortunately, it does not always work. Something like 26,000 cattle, 100,000 pigs and 9.5 million chickens are mis-stunned each year. How do we solve that problem?</p><p></p><p>Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)</p><p>Is the hon. Gentleman aware that on many occasions stunning involves sending a very strong electric shock to the animal, which can suffer for about 20 or 25 minutes while it is being made unconscious, causing excruciating pain?</p><p></p><p>Mike Gapes (Ilford South) (Ind):</p><p>Many of my constituents have contacted me about this issue. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the traditional methods of slaughter, which are used in the Muslim and Jewish religions, are in fact more humane than some of the modern practices, which either do not work properly or do not give due consideration to the welfare of the animal?</p><p></p><p>Scott Mann (North Cornwall) (Con):</p><p>I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this debate and taking my intervention. Does he agree that many residents in my constituency want proper labelling—as has been mentioned—so that they can make a conscious choice about how their animals are killed? I am a great believer in labelling, and I hope that the Minister is listening. We should push for better labelling for slaughtered animals.</p><p></p><p>Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab):</p><p>I am not suggesting that the hon. Gentleman is saying this, but , , ? It is used as a tool by Tommy Robinson et al. and by newspapers to propagate headlines such as “Halal secret of Pizza Express” and “Brit kids forced to eat Halal school dinners”. It goes into that area.</p><p>Does the hon. Gentleman agree that while we are having the debate, we must ensure—I cannot speak for the other countries that he named—the religious freedom that our democracy is so proud of? In this instance, we are talking about two religious communities, the Jewish community and the Muslim community, which are directly affected by the debate and what he is proposing.</p><p></p><p>Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con):</p><p>In response to the hon. Lady’s point, as I have mentioned, while some slaughter practices do not allow pre-stunning, in accordance with religious rites, some halal authorities consider that pre-stunning is permissible, provided that the stun does not kill the animal and that the animal could have theoretically regained consciousness. That is an important point, because many consumers of meat may not buy it if it is signified as halal because they believe it is from an animal that was not stunned. That represents an unnecessary loss to the market.</p><p>I ask the Government to address the evidence being put forward by organisations such as the BVA and RSPCA. There have been a number of stark illustrations, which I referred to earlier. I will not go through them all again, but I am happy to send hon. Members copies of the BVA submission if they would like.</p><p>In the absence of a ban, we could move forward in other ways. The first way forward is to look at over-production. If non-stun slaughter is to continue, .</p><p></p><p>Scott Mann (North Cornwall) (Con):</p><p>I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this debate and taking my intervention. Does he agree that many residents in my constituency —as has been mentioned—so that they can make a conscious choice about how their animals are killed? , . We should push for better labelling for slaughtered animals.</p><p></p><p>Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)</p><p>I thank the Minister for giving way and I also thank the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson), who secured the debate, especially for his explicit and helpful statement at the outset that he did not intend in any way to impact on religious freedom or expression. Will the Minister confirm that, regardless of the outcome of the ongoing Brexit negotiations, the rights of the Jewish and Muslim faiths to have meat prepared in accordance with their beliefs will always be protected?</p><p></p><p>David Rutley:</p><p>but It is important that we have a discussion about these issues and I will come on to say how we can do that. However, since the 1930s we have had a tradition of respecting the religious rights of both the Jewish community and the Muslim community, and we will honour that tradition.</p><p></p><p>Let me come back to the point about religious slaughter. On non-stun slaughter in particular, I restate that it is the Government’s preference that all animals are stunned before slaughter. However, as I said in answer to the hon. Member for Bradford East (Imran Hussain)—this relates to the comments made by the hon. Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah)—the Government respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their beliefs. Therefore, we allow religious slaughter of animals by Muslims and Jews , in keeping with their traditions.</p><p></p><p>Yasmin Qureshi:</p><p>I thank the Minister for mentioning mis-stunning. Will he ensure that if there is going to be labelling, we are told on the label exactly the methodology adopted in the stunning?</p><p></p><p>David Rutley:</p><p>The heart of the discussion today has been about labelling. We know that concerns have been voiced about meat from animal slaughter without stunning being sold to consumers who do not require their meat to be prepared in that way. The Government are clear that we want people to have the information they need to make informed choices about the food that they buy. , ’ , as I set out in a speech at the annual dinner for the BVA back in February.</p><p></p><p>It is important to note that there are other groups that want to know not only whether the meat is from a stunned or non-stunned animal, but what method of slaughter has been used. That will need to be considered in the wider review of labelling.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="J Cookson, post: 6337436, member: 134556"] You may want to read this: [URL]https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-04-03/debates/A6B3FD52-7243-4573-9580-48CD6C9A110A/Non-StunSlaughterOfAnimals[/URL] Extracts: Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con): The BVA believes “that slaughter without pre-stunning unnecessarily compromises animal welfare and that animals should be stunned before slaughter.” Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con): Does my hon. Friend agree that the situation could be vastly improved in the short term by changing our labelling laws and requiring products to be labelled to show whether stunning has taken place? Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): Like the hon. Gentleman, I eat red meat regularly and I am also an animal lover. However, I do believe we can accommodate people. If we had the labelling to indicate whether stunning was used, people would have the opportunity to choose whether to buy that meat. John Howell (Henley) (Con): I understand what my hon. Friend is saying about stunning, but unfortunately, it does not always work. Something like 26,000 cattle, 100,000 pigs and 9.5 million chickens are mis-stunned each year. How do we solve that problem? Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that on many occasions stunning involves sending a very strong electric shock to the animal, which can suffer for about 20 or 25 minutes while it is being made unconscious, causing excruciating pain? Mike Gapes (Ilford South) (Ind): Many of my constituents have contacted me about this issue. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the traditional methods of slaughter, which are used in the Muslim and Jewish religions, are in fact more humane than some of the modern practices, which either do not work properly or do not give due consideration to the welfare of the animal? Scott Mann (North Cornwall) (Con): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this debate and taking my intervention. Does he agree that many residents in my constituency want proper labelling—as has been mentioned—so that they can make a conscious choice about how their animals are killed? I am a great believer in labelling, and I hope that the Minister is listening. We should push for better labelling for slaughtered animals. Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab): I am not suggesting that the hon. Gentleman is saying this, but , , ? It is used as a tool by Tommy Robinson et al. and by newspapers to propagate headlines such as “Halal secret of Pizza Express” and “Brit kids forced to eat Halal school dinners”. It goes into that area. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that while we are having the debate, we must ensure—I cannot speak for the other countries that he named—the religious freedom that our democracy is so proud of? In this instance, we are talking about two religious communities, the Jewish community and the Muslim community, which are directly affected by the debate and what he is proposing. Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con): In response to the hon. Lady’s point, as I have mentioned, while some slaughter practices do not allow pre-stunning, in accordance with religious rites, some halal authorities consider that pre-stunning is permissible, provided that the stun does not kill the animal and that the animal could have theoretically regained consciousness. That is an important point, because many consumers of meat may not buy it if it is signified as halal because they believe it is from an animal that was not stunned. That represents an unnecessary loss to the market. I ask the Government to address the evidence being put forward by organisations such as the BVA and RSPCA. There have been a number of stark illustrations, which I referred to earlier. I will not go through them all again, but I am happy to send hon. Members copies of the BVA submission if they would like. In the absence of a ban, we could move forward in other ways. The first way forward is to look at over-production. If non-stun slaughter is to continue, . Scott Mann (North Cornwall) (Con): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this debate and taking my intervention. Does he agree that many residents in my constituency —as has been mentioned—so that they can make a conscious choice about how their animals are killed? , . We should push for better labelling for slaughtered animals. Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab) I thank the Minister for giving way and I also thank the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson), who secured the debate, especially for his explicit and helpful statement at the outset that he did not intend in any way to impact on religious freedom or expression. Will the Minister confirm that, regardless of the outcome of the ongoing Brexit negotiations, the rights of the Jewish and Muslim faiths to have meat prepared in accordance with their beliefs will always be protected? David Rutley: but It is important that we have a discussion about these issues and I will come on to say how we can do that. However, since the 1930s we have had a tradition of respecting the religious rights of both the Jewish community and the Muslim community, and we will honour that tradition. Let me come back to the point about religious slaughter. On non-stun slaughter in particular, I restate that it is the Government’s preference that all animals are stunned before slaughter. However, as I said in answer to the hon. Member for Bradford East (Imran Hussain)—this relates to the comments made by the hon. Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah)—the Government respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their beliefs. Therefore, we allow religious slaughter of animals by Muslims and Jews , in keeping with their traditions. Yasmin Qureshi: I thank the Minister for mentioning mis-stunning. Will he ensure that if there is going to be labelling, we are told on the label exactly the methodology adopted in the stunning? David Rutley: The heart of the discussion today has been about labelling. We know that concerns have been voiced about meat from animal slaughter without stunning being sold to consumers who do not require their meat to be prepared in that way. The Government are clear that we want people to have the information they need to make informed choices about the food that they buy. , ’ , as I set out in a speech at the annual dinner for the BVA back in February. It is important to note that there are other groups that want to know not only whether the meat is from a stunned or non-stunned animal, but what method of slaughter has been used. That will need to be considered in the wider review of labelling. [/QUOTE]
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