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A coalition of MPs is calling on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to outlaw intensive farming.
An Early Day Motion has been signed by 16 MPs from Labour, the SNP, the Green Party, and the Liberal Democrats. It urges Johnson to ‘listen to the public’ and permanently ban factory farming in the UK.
Intensive farming ban
The motion is supported by vegan charity Viva! It recognizes that ‘intensive farming methods inflict terrible suffering on some one billion land animals in the UK each year’.
It also says factory farms provide a ‘fertile environment for the amplification and transmission of viruses and bacteria between different species and humans’. As well as drawing attention to the ‘rise and spread of antimicrobial resistance’ caused by livestock farming.
Moreover, it cites a poll conducted earlier this year that shows 90 percent of Brits want the government to ban intensive farming.
‘Potentially lethal viruses’
Juliet Gellatley is the director of Viva! In a statement sent to PBN, she said: “No country can claim to be a world leader in animal welfare and continue to allow the practice of intensive factory farming.
“Aside from the issues of animal welfare… It holds a very real and inherent risk of the spread and mutation of potentially lethal viruses.”
Gellatley then concluded: “We strongly urge the Government to listen to Parliament and the will of the people… And outlaw the abhorrent practice of factory farming in the UK for good.”
