The Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Crawley, Henry Smith, has expressed his delight at the party’s manifesto including a commitment for the mandatory introduction of CCTV in UK slaughterhouses.
Henry said;
“I led the debate in Parliament and called for mandatory introduction of CCTV in slaughterhouses to help prevent appalling animal abuse happening in some abattoirs; therefore I'm delighted that this commitment is now official Conservative policy in the Party's manifesto.
“In recent years I’ve been proud to support Conservatives Against Fox Hunting (Blue Fox), and it was my honour to serve as Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare over the last two years.
“In the previous parliament I campaigned for action to be taken to stop the illegal puppy trade. The Conservatives are tackling backstreet puppy breeders; recently announcing plans which will make it completely illegal to sell puppies younger than eight weeks old and require anyone breeding and selling three or more litters of puppies a year to apply for a formal licence.
“Under the Conservatives, the banning of testing of household products on animals came into effect. This covers all finished products, including detergents, polishes and cleaning products, laundry products, air fresheners, deodorants, paints and other decorating materials.
“The UK has also led calls in Europe for better conditions for farm animals; and the better enforcement of the bans on battery hen cages and sow stalls, with the UK farming industry spending millions of pounds to improve conditions for animals.
“As we leave the EU we can take early steps to control exports of live farm animals for slaughter. This is a cause I’ve pursued with the Environment Secretary, indeed one of the main reasons I campaigned for the UK to leave the EU was precisely so our own Parliament could legislate on these important issues.
“A quick look at my inbox shows that I’m far from the only person in Crawley who holds these causes close to my heart.
“If I’m re-elected at the general election to serve Crawley in the House of Commons these are causes I’ll continue to pursue.”
