Labour Party will ban imports of foie gras into UK

As you can see from the title, this isn't about cats but it's about something which concerns me all the time: animal cruelty. And the creation of foie gras, a delicacy in France, is a form of animal cruelty; no question about it. The world knows it but it continues and I'm pleased to note that in The Times today, there is a report that "Imports of foie gras will be banned under Labour".

Foie gras. Looks great, right? Shame it's the product of gross animal cruelty. Image: MikeB.

The journalist, Tom Ball, says that "A Labour government would ban the importation of foie gras, in effect outlawing the sale of the French delicacy in Britain."

In the UK, production of foie gras has been bound for a decade but, regrettably to animal advocates, 200 hundred tons of the food is imported from Europe into Britain annually.

For the sake of complete clarity, the process of creating foie gras involves force-feeding ducks and geese using a foot long tube stuffed down their throats until their livers become diseased swelling up to 10 times their natural size. Cruel? It is hard to deny that it is anything but horribly cruel.

In the UK, the Animals Abroad Bill had been introduced by the Conservative party but it was thought that it had been shelved under pressure from Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and other MPs on the right of the party.

Animal advocates revolted at the dropping of the bill including high profile personalities and actors such as Mark Rylance who wrote a letter to Rishi Sunak demanding Britain end its "complicity in this appalling trade".

Competition law prevents a product being banned outright. But if Labour wins the election on July 4 they will ban the importation of any products made through the force-feeding of ducks and geese.

Labour's shadow environment secretary said: "Labour has a proud track record on animal welfare from ending the testing of animals for cosmetic products and the cruelty of fur farming. The next Labour government will build on this. We will ban the commercial import of foie gras, where ducks and geese are aggressively force-fed."

Foie gras has been a staple in the French diet since 17th-century when it was a regional delicacy in the south-west of the country and in Alsace.

Production has declined from around 19,000 tons annually about 10 years ago to 10,000 tons in 2023. The reduction is due mainly to outbreaks of bird flu but since the late 1990s, there's been a halving in the number of European countries making foie gras. In short, there's been a gradual change in attitude towards the production of foie gras which is welcome but it is too slow for many animal advocates.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.