On Monday in my capacity as a member of the Petitions
Committee, I led a debate in Parliament on live animal export.
We are a nation of animal lovers and have a proud history of
animal welfare.
As an MP one of the issues that I get the most correspondence
about is animal issues.
On Monday I was shocked to see that everything we debated
was subject to European Union legislation - so any changes arising as a result
would have to wait until after we have left the EU.
It is a sad state of affairs that we have found ourselves in
for too long now where the regulations we have been forced to apply with
regards to animal welfare coming from the EU have not reflected the views and
values of the British people.
I believe there are many good reasons for the UK to free
itself from the overbearing burden of regulation and bureaucracy from the EU
and this area is one of them.
It is worth noting our UK animal welfare standards are
amongst the highest in the World. From farm to fork, our farmers care and so do
the majority of our nation.
If only the EU could match our welfare standards in terms of
the reality of what happens as opposed to what should happen. Too frequently
they don’t. Further, once live animals leave our shores we have justifiably
grave concerns that the care, devotion and dedication that our farmers employ,
is not always reflected on the Continent, as live animals make their onward
journey. Nor that transit animals are routinely treated in such a way as to
comply with EU regulations – which in themselves often fall short of our own
standards. The UK needs rescuing from the mire of this misjudged fudgery – and
so do our animals. Brexit beckons and it really cannot come soon enough.
Many people do accept that there is a different between
exporting animals for slaughter and other reasons. There may at times be good
reasons for exporting animals that are breading stock or other reasons.
However there seems no good reason to export an animal that
is simply destined to be slaughters soon after it reaches its destination.
I can find no good or valid reason why this type of export
should continue. It seems a reasonable proposition to me that animals should be
slaughtered as close to where they were raised as is practicable. The
carcasses, can then be exported.
It would be far more efficient, and the UK would benefit
from up-selling and exporting the finished product.
On any account, we must not put profit ahead of stopping
unnecessary suffering.
The new freedoms afforded by the beckoning Brexit will
reinstate our sovereignty. We can once again do what is right and proper by our
nations, our people and our animals, another reason to look forward to Brexit
and beyond!
