Consumers have a right to know if their meat is halal or kosher… Labour must act, writes Esther McVey

At its heart, this is a straightforward proposal built on consumer choice, animal welfare and transparency.

It is not about banning halal or kosher meat but about the compulsory labelling of it, which is currently only voluntary, to ensure consumers know what they are buying.

What began as a limited religious exemption has become an increasingly significant part of meat production.

Government figures show of roughly one billion animals processed in England and Wales in 2024, around 215 million were slaughtered for halal meat.

And whilst Government guidelines say meat that results from non-stun slaughter must be intended for consumption by Jews or Muslims, analysis has shown total meat supplied by non-stun slaughter is about four times greater than the population of Muslims and Jews in the UK.

And alarmingly, the UK has now become an exporter of halal meat to the United Arab Emirates.

Some of the UK’s largest retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, sell halal or kosher meat without informing consumers.

Major takeaway chains such as Domino’s, Pizza Hut and KFC serve it without customers necessarily being aware.

Non-stunned meat is also being served in schools by 17 local councils, most of which are not Islamic faith schools, meaning parents and pupils may have no idea how that meat was produced.

The same issue exists in hospitals, where patients can be served meat without being given that information.

As a nation of animal lovers, people want to know the welfare standards behind the food they buy.

Yet consumers are often denied the information needed to make an informed choice because it is missing from the label. This needs to change.

Remarkably, Labour’s 12,500-word animal welfare strategy found room to discuss issues from live lobsters and farmed fish to pig stunning, but not a single proposal for clearer labelling of halal and kosher meat, nor any mention of slaughter without prior stunning.

The Food Standards Agency’s Food and You 2 survey found that food production methods were consumers’ most cited food concern in 2024. In the Government’s 2022 call for evidence on animal welfare labelling, almost 99 per cent of respondents supported the introduction of method-of-slaughter labelling.

Research by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board also found 92 per cent of halal consumers consider clear halal certification important.

The public has spoken. Consumers have a right to know how their food was produced. It is common sense.

And it is long overdue.

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter