Nick Palmer: Fox hunting is just one part of May’s disastrous animal welfare failure

I’m a former Labour MP but for the last seven years I’ve been focused on animal protection campaigning, mostly as director of policy for Cruelty Free International, up to last year. So whoever wins the election, I’ll be hoping that animal welfare gets the attention that a great many voters think it deserves – as any MP will tell you, the issue comes up in their postbags again and again.

But what’s the evidence of priorities?

Labour has a clear vision to lead the world with high animal welfare standards in the wild, in farming and for domestic animals. Labour’s polices do more than attempt to defend the status quo, they promise positive change.

New policies in the Labour manifesto include increased sentencing for the most serious animal welfare crimes, a ban on third party sale of puppies (a longstanding RSPCA demand), promoting cruelty-free animal husbandry and consulting on ways to ensure better enforcement of agreed standards.

Labour also stands by a ban on ivory trading and the use of wild animals in circuses as well as opposing the badger cull and any return to hunting with hounds.

What are the Conservative priorities? In 2015, to be fair, they did promise to press for a total ban on ivory sales. In 2017, that pledge, which annoyed the dealer trade, has been quietly removed. And following Theresa May’s admission that she personally supports a return to hunting with hounds, her manifesto confirmed the promise to resurrect the issue again – wasting parliamentary time, tax payer money and most importantly, undoing progress and common sense on this issue.

Some 84 per cent of people in Britain support the ban. It’s inhumane, ineffective and unpopular. So why does May care so much about bringing back fox hunting? It seems to be all about getting contributions and help from the Countryside Alliance. Is this part of a general effort to help the countryside? The truth is that rural poverty continues to be a significant, under-reported problem, while rural transport infrastructure, broadband connectivity and housing are all serious concerns about which the Conservatives are strangely silent. No – apparently the Conservatives think the key issue for rural residents is hunting foxes – and really even the most traditional country-dweller would disagree with that.

The obvious challenge to animal welfare is Brexit. After withdrawal from the EU, assuming it happens, Britain will be free to set different standards for animal welfare from the bloc. Will those standards be higher or lower? Do voters feel confident that a Conservative government, anxious to at least sign a trade deal with President Trump’s America, will stand firm on maintaining or even improving conditions for animals? Isn’t it much more likely that Labour, with its long tradition of progressive animal welfare reform, will resist the siren call for lower standards pushed by the big American agri-corporations?

Finally, what of the badger cull? Blocked by Labour (and still blocked by Labour’s government in Wales), this has been pushed through in the teeth of scientific evidence by May’s Conservatives. The more effective vaccination route has been ignored in the rush to appease the pressure from Conservative back-benches.

We don’t need grand rhetoric here. Labour’s past record on animal welfare and our commitments contained within the 2017 manifesto speak volumes. We should be proud of our accomplishments and commitments to date, and look forward to driving an agenda for a modern and progressive animal welfare agenda under a coming Labour government.

Nick Palmer was Labour MP for Broxtowe 1997-2010 and PPC for Broxtowe in 2015.