Ethical MPs to be honoured by PAD

Next week on Wednesday 23rd June, the influential PAD project will visit Westminster to present Certificates of Recognition to the 43 MPs who gave 100% support for our VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 manifesto.

The manifesto included the following measures:

1. The retention and thorough enforcement of the hunting ban
2. A ban on all battery cages and the debeaking of laying hens
3. The creation of an Animal Protection Commission to be a voice for animals in Government and review and implement animal protection policies
4. A Government-led strategy to reduce and eliminate animal experiments
5. The application of Freedom of Information to animal experiments
6. An end to Government support for biofuel production that causes suffering and death to orangutans and other wild animals through habitat destruction

The way we treat animals is a fundamental indication of the state of our society. These MPs' support for compassionate politics is, therefore, a sign that they have the character and values much needed to stand in Parliament and help enhance the integrity of our political system.

We look forward to working with these conscientious representatives to build a truly fair society where our fellow animals are treated as individual beings worthy of respect. These are the MPs who we will honour for their commitment to animal protection:

• Caroline Lucas, Green, Brighton Pavilion
• Frank Field, Labour, Birkenhead
• Stephen McCabe, Labour, Birmingham Selly Oak
• Yasmin Qureshi, Labour, Bolton South East
• Barry Gardiner, Labour, Brent North
• Kerry McCarthy, Labour, Bristol East
• Andrew Gwynne, Labour, Denton and Reddish
• Chris Williamson, Labour, Derby North
• Stephen Pound, Labour, Ealing North
• Grahame Morris, Labour, Easington 
• Andrew Miller, Labour, Ellesmere Port and Neston 
• Andy Slaughter, Labour, Hammersmith 
• John McDonnell, Labour, Hayes and Harlington 
• Jim Dobbin, Labour, Heywood and Middleton 
• Fabian Hamilton, Labour, Leeds North East 
• Jim Dowd, Labour, Lewisham West and Penge 
• Sir Gerald Kaufman, Labour, Manchester Gorton 
• Paul Farrelly, Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme 
• Michael Meacher, Labour, Oldham West and Royton 
• Angela C. Smith, Labour, Stocksbridge and Penistone
• Bill Esterson, Labour, Sefton Central
• Nia Griffith, Labour, Llanelli 
• Paul Flynn, Labour, Newport West 
• Russell Brown, Labour, Dumfries and Galloway 
• Cathy Jamieson, Labour, Kilmarnock and Loudoun 
• Katy Clark, Labour, North Ayrshire and Arran 
• Don Foster, Lib Dem, Bath 
• Tom Brake, Lib Dem, Carshalton and Wallington 
• Duncan Hames, Lib Dem, Chippenham 
• Bob Russell, Lib Dem, Colchester 
• Stephen Lloyd, Lib Dem, Eastbourne 
• Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem, Hornsey and Wood Green 
• Norman Baker, Lib Dem, Lewes 
• John Leech, Lib Dem, Manchester, Withington 
• Annette Brooke, Lib Dem, Mid Dorset and North Poole 
• Simon Wright, Lib Dem, Norwich South
• Mike Hancock, Lib Dem, Portsmouth South 
• Nick Clegg, Lib Dem, Sheffield Hallam
• Andrew George, Lib Dem, St Ives 
• Paul Burstow, Lib Dem, Sutton and Cheam 
• Adrian Sanders, Lib Dem, Torbay 
• Jenny Willott, Lib Dem, Cardiff Central 
• Jo Swinson, Lib Dem, East Dunbartonshire

More reports on the amazing impact VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 campaign coming soon!  

Posted 16 June 2010  

How will animals fare under the new Coalition Government?

So, British politics is moving into relatively uncharted territory following the election of a hung Parliament and subsequent formation of a coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The Labour Party has failed to hold on to power and lost almost a hundred MPs, mainly to the Conservatives. We use the Programme for Government agreed by the coalition as a starting point for assessing the prospects for animal protection, focussing here on hunting and animal experiments.

Hunting

A key concern has to be the danger of a repeal of the hunt ban. The Conservatives had indicated their desire to legalise hunting and pledged to allow Parliament a free vote on hunting if they won the election. However, their failure to secure an overall majority means that it is far from certain that pro-hunt MPs outnumber anti-hunt members. Furthermore, the need to form a coalition with the generally anti-hunt Lib Dems appears to have watered down the Conservatives’ intention to allow Parliament a free vote.

The Programme states: ‘We will bring forward a motion on a free vote enabling the House of Commons to express its view on the repeal of the Hunting Act’ (page 18). Many commentators* think this means that there will have to be an initial vote in Parliament to approve the tabling of a subsequent motion to repeal the hunt ban. This complicates and lengthens the process compared to the Conservatives’ pre-election position. 

In any case, the prospects for the hunt ban remain unclear, so compassionate citizens need to be vigilant and intensify the pressure on MPs and all the parties.

Animal Experiments

The Programme states: ‘We will end the testing of household products on animals and work to reduce the use of animals in scientific research.’

In the most recent annual statistics, animal testing of household products accounted for just 132 experiments, or less than 0.000004% of the total of 3,656,080. This type of experiment seems to be naturally dying out in the UK, so this is an easy step for the Government to take. However, every animal saved from the nightmare of poisoning tests is a victory for animals and their advocates. Nevertheless, the public need to be aware that most household products on sale in the UK are made by multinationals who still use animals in crude toxicity tests for such goods.**  Progress to a ban on testing the ingredients on animals is vital, as is a prohibition on the sale of animal-tested household goods.

It’s the second clause – to ‘work to reduce the use of animals in scientific research' - which is potentially highly significant, and is similar to point 4 of our election questionnaire for candidates. The number of animal experiments in the UK has been rising steadily over the last decade, after a policy-u-turn by the Labour Government surrendered all real responsibility for animal experiments to the animal research industry itself. Essentially, the fox was left in charge of the chicken coup.

The phrase 'work to' dilutes the promise, but it could potentially herald a fundamental change in Government approach from a passive 'demand-led' attitude (i.e. animals are left to the mercy of those who demand to experiment on them) to a more pro-active policy where the Government ensures that animal protection and public opinion are given serious consideration for the first time. In the past decade, the Government has ignored calls from expert advisors to develop and implement targetted reductions in animal testing. The new Coalition Government is giving us a tantalising glimpse of a new approach informed by ethics and science rather than dictated by the power and prejudice of the animal testing establishment.

Future steps

PAD is in discussions with animal protection organisations and senior animal advocates to save the hunt ban and persuade the Coalition Goverrnment to fulfil its promise to tackle animal experiments. In the coming weeks we will be updating this website to enable you to speak up for animals in this crucial period. 

We'll also be looking at the pre-election pledges made by the new MPs so, with your vital help, we can work with compassionate Parliamentarians to advance animal protection in this intriguing political era.

Notes  

* See articles at: http://www.fwi.co.uk/; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

** Make a donation to order a compassionate shopping guide with details of which companies do and don’t test on animals.

Posted 21 May 2010

Conservatives offer little hope for animals

With over 5000 emails sent to candidates, and thousands of replies received from election candidates, some revealing patterns are emerging about the relative commitment of the parties to animal protection.

Most alarming are the Conservative candidates. We have received a miniscule 14 positive replies out of a possible 3774. The Conservatives' animal protection rating is therefore a pretty nasty 0.37%. Not one Tory out of the 629 surveyed has agreed with all six of our animal protection manifesto points. More Tories than any other party simply aren't bothering to reply to their constituents' questions about their stance on hunting and other animal issues.

Labour score 16.3% and the Lib Dems 24%. As usual, the Green candidates are the most supportive with a 54% agreement rate. In fact 95% of the actual responses received from Green candidates were positive. 

Posted 29 April 2010 

'Clegg bounce' prompts surge in Lib Dem animal protection pledges  

Their rise in popularity following the leaders' debates has inspired many more Liberal Democrat candidates to declare their support for our PAD manifesto. They have now leapt above Labour into second place in terms of animal protection commitment. Nick Clegg himself has signed up to all six of our policy proposals, including maintaining the hunting ban and improving its enforcement.

However, Green candidates still lead the field by some distance, which is some feat given they are only standing in about half of the constituencies. Sadly, there is still no sign of any meaningful Conservative commitment to animal welfare. 

As of 21 April, we have received 2,089 'Yes' answers to our manifesto, of which 41% are from Green candidates, 29% Lib Dems, 24% Labour, 1% Cons (0.6%!) and 5% Others (mainly Plaid Cymru and Scottish National Party).
 
270 candidates have answered Yes to all 6 questions (of which 50% Green, 26% Lib Dems, 20% Labour, 0% Cons, 4% Others). 

Posted 26 April 2010 

How are election candidates responding to our manifesto?

Greens lead field with Tories bringing up rear

To date we have received 1,593 Yes answers to our manifesto points, of which 45% Green, 27% Labour, 23% Lib Dems, 0% Cons (0.4%!), 5% Others).

202 candidates have answered Yes to all 6 questions (of which 55% Green, 23% Labour, 22% Lib Dems, 0% Cons, 0% Others).

These figures broadly reflect the degree of commitment to animal protection from the parties previously seen from manifestos and support for Early Day Motions and other activity in the UK and European Parliament. The Green figure is even more impressive because they aren't standing as many candidates as the three main parties.

Posted 14 April 2010

Lush give massive boost to VOTE4ANIMALS!

International cosmetics firm Lush has provided a massive boost to the VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 campaign with a week-long campaign in their high street stores. Combined with articles on their website and facebook page, this has resulted in an astonishing ten-fold increase in the number of people visiting this site and lobbying their candidates.

Lush staff also donned costumes and placards to leaflet outside their stores, helping gain extensive media coverage in regional newspapers and radio stations.

Dedicated animal advocates are requesting campaign leaflets from us by the thousand to deliver door-to-door, focussing on key marginal seats. This is maintaining the momentum of this campaign, which is impressing and inspiring humane voters to get active at this crucial time!

Posted 13 April 2010 

41% of British Public say Animal Welfare is Important Voting Issue

Staggering 18 million votes could be influenced by policies on hunting, farming and animal experiments

A new opinion poll suggests that politicians who ignore animal welfare issues could end up counting the cost on election night.

A YouGov poll carried out for the Protecting Animals in Democracy (PAD) campaign reveals that animal welfare issues such as hunting and animal experimentation are an important election issue for 41% of the British public.

In the same poll, 87% agreed that the way we treat animals is an important measure of the state of our society, with only 21% believing that there is very little animal cruelty in Britain today.

This is the first time that the enormous political significance of animal welfare issues has come to light. We are pleasantly surprised because, although any decent human being would be concerned about animal cruelty, we were uncertain whether such a large proportion of the general public would take the next step and recognise it as an important political issue as well.

VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 - backed by the ethical cosmetics firm Lush - helps voters quiz election candidates on their animal welfare stance. The published responses, together with analysis of party manifestos, will allow voters make an informed choice when they go to the polls.

This new survey suggests that VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 could affect the result in many marginal constituencies, and hence who forms the next Government.

NOTES:

1. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2115 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 19th - 22nd March 2010. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
2. Total number of registered electors is 45,410,482. 41% of that figure is 18,618,298. (Source: Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, and Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.)

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