Workers under pressure over animal welfare and farming policy – ​​from badger culling to sewage treatment

Labour’s policies on animal welfare and the environment may be better than those of the Conservatives but they contain disappointing gaps, experts say.

In a YouGov poll last year, a third of voters said animal welfare was one of their three most important issues.

The new Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, will therefore face pressure from lobbying groups and, in some cases, from opposing factions dealing with rural and agricultural issues.

The party’s manifesto promised to improve animal welfare by banning trail hunting and the import of hunting trophies, ending puppy smuggling and puppy breeding, and “working to phase out animal testing”.

A Labour government was promised to “support British farming while protecting the environment”.

Alongside plans for managing organic land, the manifesto promised steps to eradicate bovine tuberculosis, to end the “ineffective” culling of badgers. And there was a commitment to ban the use of snares.

Mr Reed said Labour would deliver the “biggest improvement in animal welfare in a generation”.

Many of these rules have been welcomed by commentators – but others have already sparked controversy, including:

Badger culling

Ahead of the election, Labour condemned the badger cull as “ineffective”, postponing the prospect of ending it.

However, Mr Reed confirmed last week that the Government would allow existing shooting licences to be extended until 2026, saying an immediate end to the cull would cause a “sudden shock to the system”.

Meanwhile, the Badger Trust and Wild Justice, a joint campaign group led by Chris Packham, have sent a legal warning letter over Natural England’s decision before the election to grant nine new additional shooting licences and approve 17 existing licences – against the advice of Natural England’s chief science officer.

Wild Justice said if the response was unsatisfactory, the organisation could seek judicial review.

Dominic Dyer, former head of the Badger Trust and the unsuccessful Lib Dem election candidate, said: “Never in the history of conservation has there been such a betrayal of trust. After 13 years of waiting for a Labour government to stop this cruel madness, they are now planning to kill at least 30,000 badgers.”

Industrial agriculture

The Labour Party manifesto has been criticised for failing to mention the welfare of animals raised on factory farms.

Alick Simmons, a former deputy chief veterinary officer for the government, writing for Wild Justice, said: “Promising to tackle puppy farming while ignoring industrial pig and poultry farming does not strike me as a balanced manifesto.”

Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) has lobbied all parties to ban cages, saying around 8 million farm animals are kept in them in the UK each year. “The previous government said they had a consultation on this and we want to see it published,” he said.

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to ban the use of chicken cages, while Labour has not.

CiWF also called for mandatory food labelling by production method, following consultations earlier this year.

The Liberal Democrats have been praised for promising to crack down on the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals, and the new government will need to take action.

Restoration of wildlife and natural environment

Caroline Lucas, former co-leader of the Green Party, said she was shocked by the lack of detail in the manifesto on restoring the natural environment.

“At the bare minimum, where is the increased budget for independent bodies like Natural England and the Environment Agency?” she asked. “Or funding to enable landowners to return their land to nature? Or pay rises to help farmers transition to nature-friendly farming and tackle our broken agricultural system that is causing biodiversity loss?”

However, environmentalists welcomed the promise in the party’s pre-manifesto environmental policy, which stated: “We will help coordinate nature restoration with public land authorities and large landowners.”

Guy Shrubsole wrote on his blog: “This may sound trivial, but in fact it may be one of the most important policies – the first signs of a Public Nature Estate: an idea advocated by Wildlife and Countryside Link (a coalition of 82 organisations).”

Forest ranger Samuel Lindsay added: “While talk of habitat expansion is positive, it is a very vague statement. There are no clear targets or areas in which it could be done.”

The manifesto promised to plant millions of trees, create new woodland and expand wetlands, peat bogs and forests.

Mr Simmons said: “Of course, let’s get rid of traps, but what about the many irresponsible and untested methods of killing wildlife, such as Larsen traps, mole traps, Fenn traps and poisons, which are freely available and can be used by anyone?”

Trail hunting

Opponents and observers claim that fox hunting is a violation of the law because they organize fox hunts under the pretext of trail hunting – i.e. following the scent without chasing wild animals.

The claims gained weight when the huntsman’s chief advised others to create a “smokescreen” by marking out several trails. His words, spoken during a leaked private Zoom meeting, were interpreted as an admission that foxhunting had taken place.

Mr Reed said in February that a Labour government would introduce a trail hunting ban in its first term, and the manifesto included a promise to introduce a trail hunting ban – but stopped short of closing loopholes in the Hunting Act 2004, which bans hunting wild animals with dogs.

Former League Against Cruel Sports chief Andy Knott has expressed doubts about the feasibility of a ban under the Hunting Act.

“People have seen images of packs of dogs breaking into private gardens, killing cats, tearing up packs. There is no majority in any part of the country that would like to see that continue,” Mr Reed said. Times before the elections.

However, Oliver Hughes, of governing body the British Hound Sports Association, told Horse & Hound that around 12,000 trail hunting days take place in England and Wales each year, “the vast majority of which go off without a hitch”.

Sewage scandal

Ms Lucas said: “While Labour’s manifesto pledges to tackle the sewer scandal, it fails to get to the heart of the matter – the unmitigated disaster that is our privatised water system. Water is a public good, so the Green Party would like to see it returned to public ownership.”

Mr Shrubsole criticised the plans for making no mention of river pollution caused by farming.

“The significant contribution that agriculture makes to the health of our rivers appears to be a taboo subject for almost all parties running in this election – with the notable exception of the Green Party,” he said.

Trade agreements

Mr Dyer said the Government’s priority should be to suspend the UK’s £970m trade deal with the Faroe Islands to force authorities to end the mass slaughter of whales and dolphins.

Ciwf said animal welfare should be protected in trade deals by refusing to import food produced illegally in the UK. Labour said it would do so.

British farmers have complained that the Conservatives were tightening standards on cheap food import deals.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “The Government has set out in its manifesto its plans to deliver the most ambitious animal welfare programme in a generation.

“This includes a ban on trail hunting and the import of hunting trophies, as well as an end to badger shooting, puppy smuggling and breeding, and the use of snare traps.”