‘Millions of animals dying on cruel fur farms can’t speak out – we must be their voice’

One of the issues I find most upsetting, most cruel and most unnecessary is the fur trade.

Millions of wild animals confined in small, bare wire cages, killed in ways too brutal to comprehend let alone put into print, purely for fashion, seems completely unacceptable to our nation of animal lovers.

For this reason, I am proud that the last Labour Government saw fit to ban the farming of fur on these shores 20 years ago.

Yet sadly, the story didn’t end there and since 2003 we have simply outsourced this cruelty to the rest of the world, as the UK continues to allow the import and sale of fur.

In July, following Labour’s landslide election victory, I used the debate around the King’s Speech to commit “to speak out on animal welfare, because the animals can’t”.

Now, I am putting those words into action, to hopefully end the UK’s role in this cruelty once and for all.

Last month, having been drawn in the ballot, I tabled a new Private Members Bill to ban the import and sale of animal fur in Britain.

This legislation has been in the making for decades and animal welfare NGOs such as Four Paws UK, Humane Society International/UK and the wider Fur Free Britain coalition have consistently highlighted the appalling conditions that animals farmed for their fur or caught wild in traps experience.

Compassionate Brits have been at the heart of the campaign, signing petitions, joining demonstrations, and taking to social media to back a #FurFreeBritain.

Next week, this issue will return to the spotlight, as my friend and colleague Adam Jogee MP will host a special event in Parliament on Wednesday joined by celebrity animal advocates Will Young and and supported by myself and animal protection organisations Four Paws UK and Humane Society International/UK.

Since the fur free movement began, over 1,500 fashion retailers and top global designers have ruled out using and selling fur, and it is almost a year since the British Fashion Council banned fur from London Fashion Week, putting compassion in fashion.

On top of abject cruelty and consumer distaste, fur production poses a serious risk to global public health.

Cramming together chronically stressed animals make fur farms perfect for the evolution and spread of dangerous zoonotic diseases, like -19 and bird flu.

Eleven new viruses were recently discovered in animals on Chinese fur farms, including a worrying new bat , with top virologists describing fur farming as “a roll of the dice” and “a clear epidemic or pandemic risk”.

I am immensely proud of my Party’s record on animal welfare, from the aforementioned domestic fur farming ban, to the ban on cosmetic testing on animals, the Animal Welfare Act and the Hunting Act.

All have been important steps in righting the wrongs of the past and reflecting the importance of animals to the British people.

As you can imagine, I was delighted when the DEFRA Secretary Steve Reed MP announced that the incoming Labour Government would oversee the biggest boost to animal welfare in a generation.

I believe my Bill provides an ideal opportunity to take the first big step in that boost, ending UK support for the brutal and needless killing of tens of millions animals a year.

As I said, animals can’t speak for themselves and rely on us to be their voice, so please join me in urging MPs from across the political spectrum to support my Bill and make #FurFreeBritain a reality.

Ruth Jones is the Labour MP for Newport West and Islwyn