There is no place in modern Britain for fur or foie gras, both of which are products of appalling cruelty. The government has abandoned plans to introduce an Animals Abroad bill which would have banned the import and sale of fur and foie gras.

This is an appalling betrayal of animals, who desperately need a kind nation to defend them, but also the British public, the vast majority of whom are united in support for a ban, and who are looking to this government to make good on its pledges of being a world leader on animal welfare.

Farming animals for fur, and force-feeding geese to produce foie gras, are so cruel that they’re banned here in the UK. It is an obscene double-standard that we still allow these products of cruelty to be imported and sold in UK shops.

Opinion polls consistently show enormous public support for banning their import and sale, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Millions of fox, mink, raccoon dogs, chinchilla and rabbits are locked up their entire lives in cramped, barren wire cages on fur farms, many suffering from untreated wounds and slipping into mental decline.

In the wild, raccoons, coyotes and other animals are also caught in brutal traps in which they can chew or break their own limbs in their desperation to escape. In foie gras production, geese and ducks have metal tubes shoved down their throats to relentlessly force feed them to the point of sickness, just to produce a pate that hardly anyone eats.

These are gross abuses of sentient animals and the UK must send a global message that we will not trade in such disgusting cruelty. 

In February 2022, The Independent newspaper reported that Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ‘Brexit Opportunities’ Minister believes that people should have the choice to buy products produced in cruel ways if they wish. The reality is that only a tiny minority of people want to buy fur and foie gras, but more importantly in a civilised society freedom of choice cannot be allowed to trump moral decency.

We don't allow the freedom of choice to import elephant ivory, or whale meat, or seal, dog or cat fur, because all these things are unutterably immoral. So too is causing animals enormous pain and suffering for frivolous fur and foie gras.     

So, I’m fully supporting Humane Society International/UK, Animal Equality, PETA, the RSPCA, Four Paws and other organisations in their ongoing efforts to see the UK ban imports and sales of fur and foie gras, and join with them in telling the government #DontBetrayAnimals

TAKE ACTION! Please sign this petition and help urge the UK government to implement a UK fur and foie gras import and sales ban!