Sadik Al-Hassan

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. Britain has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world. We should take real pride in that, but we must also protect it, both for the sake of the animals in our care and the farmers who work hard to uphold those standards every single day. Pride alone is not enough. If we want consumers, both at home and abroad, to understand and support the standards we have set, we must clearly communicate them. That is why I would strongly support the introduction of a standardised mandatory animal welfare labelling scheme on meat, eggs and dairy—not voluntary but mandatory. Such a scheme would allow shoppers to make informed choices about the products they buy and to support British farmers, who uphold some of the highest standards in the world. Data from the Labour Animal Welfare Society suggests such a scheme could boost profits for British farmers by over £40 million per year, and improve the welfare of up to 110 million chickens, 700,000 hens and half a million pigs annually. That is not a marginal improvement; it is transformational. While we rightly lift our own standards, we must ensure farmers are not undercut by imports produced in inhumane conditions abroad that would be illegal here in the UK. Our farmers are proud to meet high standards, but they should not be punished for having to compete against cheap imports raised in low-cost, low-welfare conditions abroad. Phasing out low-welfare imports within five years and requiring all imported food to meet our domestic standards would level the playing field for British farmers and end the silent support of animal cruelty abroad, which I know many of our constituents have contacted us all about over the years. Humane slaughter rules already apply to meat imports—as we have heard—so why should welfare standards afforded to animals during their time on the farm be any different? That is not protectionism; it is moral leadership. As one of the world’s largest economies, and with a particularly large amount of our food imported, we must use our influence and privileged position to encourage others to rise to our standards. Across the North sea, Denmark has already launched an animal welfare labelling scheme, and we have its eight years of experience to draw on. Under the slogan, “A hold on your heart”, that welfare labelling scheme has seen knowledge of animal welfare conditions skyrocket among the populace and has led to a profound change in shopping habits for the better, for consumers and animals alike. Animal welfare is not a niche concern. According to a poll conducted by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board last year, 84% of shoppers think animal welfare is important, yet they are currently given little information about the standards involved in the products they buy. Labour has pledged to boost animal welfare in a generation. Let us make good on that promise while shoring up the competitiveness of our struggling farmers. By introducing animal welfare labelling, we can reward those who work hard to treat animals well. We can empower consumers to reject low-welfare imports and encourage countries that wish to access our large and lucrative market to rise to our standards—a win for all.