MPs demand halal and kosher meat warning as millions of animals slaughtered without stunning

In a passionate Ten Minute Rule Bill, the Tory MP told Parliament that millions of shoppers are unknowingly buying meat from animals that may have suffered severe pain at the point of death.

Addressing the Speaker, she declared: “Mr Speaker, I beg to move that leave be given to bring in a Bill to introduce compulsory labelling of halal and kosher meat.”

She said consumers are being kept in the dark while a two-tier slaughter system operates across Britain.

Under current UK law, animals must be stunned before slaughter. But there is a religious exemption.

Halal meat can be produced with pre-stunning - and often is. However, it does not have to be.

Kosher meat, produced under the Jewish shechita method, does not involve pre-stunning at all.

Ms McVey told MPs: “The unique process of halal and kosher meat requires the animal to have its throat slit. In the case of halal meat, the animal is often stunned before it's killed, although it might not be. And for kosher meat, there is no pre stunning. This lack of stunning causes the animal to experience severe pain.”

Animal welfare groups have long argued that slaughter without stunning can prolong suffering, as the animal remains conscious while bleeding. Supporters of religious slaughter strongly dispute that characterisation and maintain their methods are humane and strictly regulated.

But Ms McVey insists there is a need for transparency.

Citing Government figures, she told the House that of the 1.035 billion animals processed in English and Welsh slaughterhouses in 2024, an estimated 214.6 million were slaughtered to produce halal meat.

She added: “The analysis shows the total meat supplied by non-stunned slaughter is about four times greater than the population of Muslims and Jews in the UK.”

Her claim is that meat from non-stunned animals is entering the general food chain in large volumes - far beyond specific religious demand.

“In effect, a two tier system has been created,” she said, “one in which some slaughter houses comply by stunning laws and one in which others don't citing the religious exemption, without ever intending to focus their sale on that market.”Ms McVey also believes that cost is driving the practice.

“Unfortunately, a driver of this market of non-stunned meat is that a step of the process is removed, meaning this meat production becomes cheaper. Supermarkets and food outlets can produce this cheaper meat, without ever declaring it to the consumer.”

She claimed leading supermarkets have sold halal or kosher meat without informing customers.

Fast food chains were also mentioned in her speech.

She also said non-stunned produce is being used by 17 local councils in schools, “the majority of which are not Islamic faith schools without parents or children having the first idea about it”, as well as being served in hospitals and council facilities.

Ms McVey said she was “surprised and alarmed” that the issue was absent from Labour’s recent animal welfare strategy.

In December, Labour unveiled a 12,500-word plan promising stronger protections for animals - including banning the boiling of live lobsters, ending the use of carbon dioxide to stun pigs, and improving the slaughter of farmed fish.

Yet, Ms McVey pointed out, there was “no mention of the more humane slaughter of animals and the labelling of halal and kosher meat”.

“There was a clear opportunity to call for this labelling of halal and kosher meat, and it was missed,” she told MPs.

Her Bill would not ban religious slaughter. Instead, it would require clear labelling so consumers know whether meat comes from stunned or non-stunned animals.

“This Bill will provide that insurance assurance to all consumers that they know how their meat was produced. And I would urge all members of this House to support this measure.”

Ms McVey won leave to bring in her Bill.

She was backed by a cross-party group of MPs including Sir Roger Gale, Alberto Costa, Dame Karen Bradley, Sir Edward Leigh, Graham Stringer, Rupert Lowe, Sammy Wilson, Jim Allister, Lee Anderson and Sarah Pochin.

Countries including Denmark and Sweden have banned slaughter without stunning altogether, prompting fierce backlash from religious groups. In the UK, successive governments have maintained the religious exemption while insisting that animal welfare standards remain high.

The Food Standards Agency says official veterinarians are present in all approved slaughterhouses and that rules must be followed strictly.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Strict laws are in place to ensure the highest possible standards of animal welfare at slaughter.

"The government expects industry to provide consumers with clear information so they can make an informed choice about their food.”