Current government 'no friend' of animals, Green Party MEP states

Keith Taylor MEP with the Animal Welfare Party
Keith Taylor MEP with the Animal Welfare Party

Post-referendum animal welfare "must be a key priority", the Green Party has said.

Keith Taylor, Green Party MEP for the South East, will use a keynote speech at the Greens for Animal Protection (GAP) AGM to highlight the key animal welfare priorities in a post-referendum Britain.

The MEP will state that the European Union helped bring improved welfare standards for farm animals in the UK.

And he will state that the current government is "no friend" to animals.

The Green Party's Animals spokesperson is set to focus on the threats posed to "hard-won" animal welfare protections and safeguards, as uncertainty remains over the government's plans for a future relationship with the EU.

Mr Taylor will say: "It is time for animal lovers of any, every, and no political persuasion to come together and fight to uphold the world-leading protections the EU has delivered on animal welfare."

"The EU brought in a blanket ban on cosmetic animal testing and the sale of animal-tested cosmetics; ended the use of great apes in research, improved welfare standards for farm animals, strengthened protections for rare and endangered species and cracked down on the illegal ivory trade.

"We cannot take these protections for granted, the new UK government is no friend to animals and could, depending on our future relationship with the EU, be free to scrap many, if not all, of these hard-won and vital protections.

"We need now to be proactive in our fight to maintain these EU laws."