Giles Watling, Member of Parliament for Clacton, raises concerns about religiously slaughtered meat within schools with the Chief Executive of Essex County Council.
Giles wrote to Gavin Jones regarding religiously slaughtered meat within schools due to the concerns he has about the animals welfare.
The current law requires animals to be stunned before slaughter, the stunning renders them unable to feel pain during this process. However, the exception to this are animals that are slaughtered for religious purposes, and those animals are slaughtered without being pre-stunned, a process that Giles believes to be barbaric and causes the animals unnecessary pain.
Giles wrote to Gavin seeking advice as to how the County Council can look to address this issue and asks if they will consider introducing a ban of halal meat being provided to schools, a decision Lancashire County Council has recently made.
Giles said
"I find the practise of not pre-stunning before slaughter abhorrent.Whilst I am a committed believer in the free market, should Essex County Council take the decision to ban meat that isn't pre-stunned before slaughter, it would send a strong signal to the market and force organisations to take a stronger line with their own suppliers."
Not only does Giles want to see this issue tackled in schools, Giles wants to ensure that all meat that is being sold to consumers is appropriately labelled to identify meat that is pre-stunned and that which is not.
Giles said
"This is not just the responsibility of local authorities, we need to take steps in Westminster to address this issue. I shall be intervening in the House of Commons to make the case for correct labelling of these products as a positive aspect of the Brexit process. People have a right to know what they are buying and to choose to make informed decisions. The EU has not given us a positive legacy in this regard, and I see Brexit as a great opportunity to change this."