MPs Debate Call to Ban Halal and Kosher Animal Slaughter

Religious groups and some MPs claim that public support for ending non-stunned killing of animals is motivated partly by Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

An image of halal meat on sale in the UK in an undated file photo. Gregory Wrona, Alamy/PA

MPs debated banning the practice of halal and kosher slaughter in Parliament after more than 109,000 Brits signed a petition demanding improved animal welfare.

While there was no vote, Monday’s Westminster Hall debate was the first time that the Muslim practice of halal and the Jewish kosher slaughter method have been considered in Parliament for a decade and follows a 2024 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that a ban would not violate religious rights.

UK law requires animals to be stunned before slaughter, but religious exceptions are given for kosher and halal methods, which involve slitting the throat of a fully conscious animal using various restraint methods.

A separate motion calling for a ban on non-stunned slaughter has been brought by former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe, who now sits as an independent following a recent falling out with his former party.

‘Two-Tier Slaughter’

Lowe, who is a farmer, referred to the current system of allowing non-stunned killings as “two-tier slaughter.”

“One of the greatest joys of being a farmer is raising livestock. We see them born, we feed them, we watch them grow and we care for them. When their time comes, we want the end to be swift, calm, dignified, and painless.

“Right now, today, in abattoirs across the country, we are allowing vile practices that would turn the stomach of any decent person, all in the name of religious exemption. There is no bolt to the brain, no stunning, no anaesthetic, but a blade—a deep, crushing cut across the throat.”

He referred to the “raw terror and suffocation” felt by the animal, which he said “does not die instantly; it thrashes, gasps and panics—it feels everything. It experiences a minute of pure agony while the blood pours from its body ... As a farmer, I would rightly be prosecuted for treating our animals like that, but in the abattoir, it is legal under religious exemption. It is two-tier slaughter.”

While Lowe’s Early Day Motion made no mention of kosher slaughter, he clarified during the debate that he was opposed to all non-stunned slaughter, following suggestions that the Muslim community was being singled out for criticism.

Rupert Lowe MP in an undated file photo. Jordan Pettitt/PA

Jamie Stone, the Liberal Democrat MP who led the debate as head of the Petitions Committee, told MPs that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is concerned about the “significant increase” in the number of animals being slaughtered without pre-stunning.

In 2024, 30.1 million animals were killed in that way, up from 25.4 million in 2022. Of those, 27 million were for halal meat and 3 million for kosher meat.

Stone said the RSPCA has found that animals killed without stunning suffer “very significant pain and distress” before they become unconscious.

“That is because the neck, cut, sends a stream of sensory information to the brain in the conscious animal, causing intense temporary pain and distress. Only after prolonged blood loss does the animal become unconscious and thus insensitive to the incision. That process can take up to 20 seconds in sheep, two minutes in cattle, and two-and-a-half minutes in poultry.”

Animal rights organisations, including Compassion in World Farming, are calling on the government to ensure that any free trade agreement that the UK signs with other countries excludes the export of non-stunned meat.

‘Singled Out’

Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi, who is Muslim, claimed that opponents to non-stunned slaughter are more concerned with the cultural difference than with animal welfare.

“Non-stun religious slaughter accounts for just 2.9 percent of animals killed in the UK. Yet this small percentage is repeatedly singled out in public debate,” she said.

“We have heard religious slaughter described as barbaric. MPs like myself have received emails referring to ‘Muslim meat’ and ‘dirty men with beards.'  That is not animal welfare language—that is prejudice, plain and simple.

“The petition talks about non-stun slaughter in general, but public focus has been almost entirely on halal. Kosher slaughter uses the same method but is rarely mentioned. This reveals what many of us [know]—this debate is less about animals and more about Muslims.”

Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, who is Jewish, attacked what he termed the “myths” being pushed by campaigners against halal and kosher slaughter that stunned slaughter is kinder.

“Their advocacy conjures up pictures of animals gently and humanely put to sleep, shielded from suffering. I am afraid to say that reality does not always conform to that comforting image,” he said.

“Modern industrial methods of stunning often involve significant distress and suffering. Animals are suffocated and slowly asphyxiated by carbon dioxide gas, electrocuted by having metal tongs placed around their heads, or maybe even placed upside down and dipped in baths of electrified water. As we have heard, captive bolts are also used,” he added.

Pinto-Duschinsky said that opponents of non-stunned slaughter have no solution that is acceptable to observant Jews and Muslims, adding, “Imposing a ban would curtail the fundamental religious freedoms of my Jewish and Muslim constituents in Hendon, and I fear that it may feed a rising tide of prejudice.”

He added: “Some proponents have suggested not banning kosher and halal slaughter, but labelling all kosher and halal meat as non-stun. I say to them that, at a time when anti-Semitism has reached record levels and Islamophobia has risen dramatically, labelling meat prepared for the Jewish and Muslim communities as inherently cruel not only is inaccurate, but will feed the fires of prejudice.”

‘Christian Heritage’

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said that his fellow MPs “will understand that fundamentally this country is of Christian heritage. Most of my constituents do not like the idea that an animal should be slaughtered in this way.”

Rosindell called for clearer labelling while the practice of non-stunned slaughter remains legal, and urged for change to “move quickly,” echoing Lowe’s claim that “millions of Brits are eating halal meat against their will and without their knowledge due to our deceitful labelling system.”

A halal butchers in Lewisham in London on May 3, 2020. Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Lowe added that economic factors “foster a more widespread adoption of the cheaper option, which means that halal meat is seeping into the food chain and the consumer is unwittingly eating it.”

In halal slaughter, the butcher, who must be Muslim, is required to call upon the name of Allah for each animal, and in kosher killing, known as shechita, the Jewish butcher must ensure the blood is fully drained from the carcass in order to comply with the Torah.

There are differences and variations in halal, with some Muslims allowing for stunning before the animal is slaughtered, while kosher killing never does.

Several European countries, including Denmark, Slovenia, Finland, and Norway have already banned non-stunned slaughter.

The petition being debated reads: “In modern society, we believe more consideration needs to be given to animal welfare and how livestock is treated and culled. We believe non-stun slaughter is barbaric and doesn’t fit in with our culture and modern-day values and should be banned, as some EU nations have done.”

‘Sentient Beings’

Under the previous Conservative government in 2022, MPs passed the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act, which recognises that animals are sentient beings and requires that their welfare is considered when government policies are formulated or implemented.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) supports the banning of non-stunned slaughter, and is calling for the practice to be more tightly regulated while it remains lawful.

“The UK governments should take several pragmatic steps to ensure that supply of meat from non-stunned animals meets the demand of the religious communities the derogation in UK legislation is intended to serve,” the BVA said, calling for clearer labelling, more oversight and inspection, a ban on the export of halal and kosher meat, and more engagement with the religious communities to encourage stunning.

Responding for the government, food security and rural affairs minister Daniel Zeichner said that although “it is the government’s preference that all animals should be stunned before slaughter, it respects the right of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their beliefs.”

“We therefore intend to continue to allow the religious slaughter of animals for consumption by Muslims and Jews.”