Photo: flickr/davidgsteadman
UK politics are heating up, considering animal welfare is playing a huge role in party platforms for the next election.
However, Labour doesn’t want to wait to put an end to animal suffering. According to BBC, the Labour Party pledged to ban all fur imports to the UK. The news comes after two petitions gathered over 500,000 signatures pushing for the government to step up and take action.
“We should not have a fur trade that relies upon the suffering of animals abroad,” Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told BBC’s Newsbeat.
Fur farming was banned by the Labour Party in the United Kingdom back in 2000, but the party deems it necessary to take further action.
“When we banned fur farming more than 15 years ago, we did half the job,” said Claire Bass, Executive Director of Humane Society International. “Now we see an opportunity to stop the import and sale of all fur in the UK.”
Brexit also gives the government the opportunity to leave the market altogether. Even though the EU has a few regulations when it comes to importing cat and dog fur, many countries within the EU still practice fur farming.
Furthermore, as part of the the EU single market, the UK can’t ban fur imports from all countries.
However, the government announced that the UK will be leaving the single market, giving them the perfect opportunity to implement a ban on fur imports. While leaving the EU has its downsides, this ban could be a positive thing Brexit has to offer.
While the current government has not been thinking of implementing stricter rules, Labour wants to go further. They appear to be pro-animal rights, which will them help win over Britain’s huge vegan population in the next election.
Fur is, indeed, a thing of the past considering how many designer brands have ditched fur. A few among that growing list are Gucci, Armani, Versace, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo.
#furfree #animalrights
