2019 General Election
On 12th December 2019, the UK went to the polls to elect a new Government. Compassion sent a letter to the leaders of all political parties, calling on them to introduce and support policies that would:
- Ban UK live exports for fattening and slaughter
- Ban the use of cages for all UK farm animals
- Protect British farming against low-welfare imports, such as chlorine-washed chicken and beef from hormone-fed cows
- Reform subsidy systems to support higher welfare farmers
- Ban the routine preventative use of antibiotics that props up cruel factory farming
- Introduce mandatory method of production labelling for all UK meat and dairy products
- Introduce a UK law that recognises that animals can suffer and feel pain
What are the parties saying?
In the table below, we have highlighted the commitments each party across the UK made in its manifesto to improve animal welfare.
We are neutral in party politics, but committed to keeping supporters informed about what each party has promised for animal welfare – the manifesto sets out the commitment of each party until the next election is called.
We have analysed the manifestos, and you can find our detailed assessments below (in alphabetical order by party name). We have not taken into account any past statements which have not made it into the manifestos and associated documents.
For easy reference, here is an overview of what the main UK-wide parties have committed to doing for farm animals. Where a commitment covers part of our proposals or makes closely-related statements without explicitly promising them, we are recording it as “Probably” or “Partly”, as appropriate.
In addition to these parties, the policies of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Parties are discussed in a separate section below.
Brexit Party | Conservative | Green | Labour | Liberal Democrats | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
End Live Exports | No | Probably1 | Yes | Yes | No |
Ban Cages | No | No | Yes | Yes | Partly2 |
Prevent Low Welfare Imports | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Subsidies For Welfare | No | Yes | Probably4 | Yes | Probably3 |
Ban Routine Antibiotics | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Method of Production Labelling | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Recognise Sentience | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
1. “End excessively long journeys”
2. Caged hens banned, no reference to farrowing crates
3. Promote a range of environmental subsidies, welfare not mentioned
4. Promote more sustainable farming methods, welfare not mentioned