Campaigners are calling for a ban on foie gras imports to the UK (Image: ANIMAL EQUALITY UK)
Labour is under pressure to fulfil its promise to ban foie gras imports after a poll revealed overwhelming public support for the intervention.
Some 76% of participants said the Government must deliver on its vow to bar the controversial pâté, made from the livers of force-fed ducks and geese, from entering the UK. Just 11% said ministers should not and 13% did not know.
It is already illegal to produce foie gras in Britain on animal welfare grounds.
The survey also found 43% do not trust the Government on the issue of protecting animals. Only 26% said they do, while a third were unsure.
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Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale urged Prime Minister Sir to go ahead with the ban.
He said: “The force-feeding of geese and ducks to produce foie gras is a gross and inhumane practice, rightly banned in the UK.
“It makes a nonsense of regulation, however, to ban a practice in the UK and then to allow products produced under conditions not permitted here to be imported.
“Polls consistently show that a compelling majority of the public back a ban. The Government should listen to public opinion and enforce one in the immediate future.”
Former animal welfare minister and Tory peer Lord Goldsmith added: “Labour applied very helpful pressure when I was a Conservative government Minister, often strengthening my hand in my own dealings with the government.
“But for their own credibility and for countless animals suffering unimaginable abuse they need to follow through on their promises.
“Fois gras is monstrously cruel, which is why we are not legally allowed to produce it in the UK. There has been consistent support for a ban on imports and no reason why that can’t easily be implemented.”
Environment Secretary Steve Reed declared ahead of last July’s general election that Labour would “ban the commercial import of foie gras” because “ducks and geese are aggressively force-fed”.
Campaigners against cruelty to animals have long called for the French delicacy to be outlawed here.
A proposed law by the was dropped in 2023 amid opposition from some MPs on the right of the party due to concerns about personal choice.
Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality, which commissioned the YouGov polling, said: “Steve Reed made a clear electoral promise yet the ban remains in limbo, with no real progress in sight.
“We’ve already seen the previous government backtrack on a ban and we refuse to let history repeat itself – animals need the Labour Party to stand by its pledge.
“Failing to deliver this swiftly would be a major own goal, undermining the trust of his party’s own supporters and Mr Reed’s local constituents.”
The poll of 2,079 people was carried out from March 2-3.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs declined to comment.