“The overwhelming majority of animal lovers in the UK expect the House of Commons to support the bill,” McVey claimed.
She added that 17 local councils are serving halal or kosher meat in schools without parents or pupils being aware.
Kosher meat is already labelled, and critics warn the bill risks stigmatising shechita as it singles out religious practices and ignores other forms of slaughter.
One Jewish leader said the debate shows “it is open season on Jewish religious practices”.
McVey is not campaigning for a ban on kosher or halal meat, but the bill is supported by Rupert Lowe, formerly of Reform and now sitting as an independent with a new political project called Restore Britain, who has repeatedly said he would like to see the religious slaughter process outlawed.
McVey’s motion – backed by Tory MPs Sir Roger Gale, Alberto Costa, Dame Karen Bradley and Sir Edward Leigh, as well as Labour’s Graham Stringer, Democratic Unionist Sammy Wilson, and Reform UK’s Lee Anderson and Sarah Pochin – claims that a lack of stunning causes “severe pain” for animals.
Jewish campaigners dispute this, citing recent peer-reviewed studies which demonstrate “the shechita method is in fact a most humane method rendering the animal insensible to pain almost instantly”.
McVey's ten-minute rule bill on the labelling of halal and kosher meat passed its first reading on Tuesday (Photo: BBC)[Missing Credit]
Shechita UK, which campaigns to defend Jewish religious slaughter, wrote to McVey ahead of the debate expressing concern about what it described as “pejorative views” within the proposed legislation.
In a letter, campaign director Shimon Cohen said: “All kosher meat and products containing kosher meat are already clearly labelled. I think it is fair to say that Jews invented the concept of food labelling a very long time ago.”
He questioned why the bill focused solely on kosher and halal meat.
“That you are only calling for the ‘labelling (of halal) and kosher meat’ leads me to think that you are not seeking to provide Jews (and Muslims) with information, but you are seeking to provide information beyond audiences the consumers who choose to buy kosher or halal product.”
Cohen argued that consumers should also be informed if their meat has been subject to gas stunning, electrocution, water-bath stunning, captive bolt or free-bullet shooting, and whether any animal had been mis-stunned.
Cohen asked why the bill was limited to calling for compulsory labelling on two methods of animal slaughter.
“It is extremely important to distinguish between honest, even-handed, non-discriminatory labelling and the inadvertent deception of consumers, as well as a biased, misinformed affront to faith communities,” he wrote, warning that limiting labelling to kosher and halal methods “becomes highly problematic”.
McVey did not respond to Shechita UK’s letter or its offer of a meeting.
The bill passed its first reading and is scheduled to return to the Commons for a second reading on July 10.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said Britain’s religious slaughter rules date back to 1933 and balance animal welfare with religious rites.
"Our legislation requires that all animals must be stunned before slaughter to make them unconscious and insensitive to pain. The only exception to this is when animals are slaughtered in accordance with religious rites, for the food of Muslims and Jews.
“The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but we respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.
“Schedule 3 to the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 sets out that the exception to the requirement to use a stunning method when slaughtering according to religious rites is limited to when it’s done by the Jewish method (shechita) for the food of Jews by a Jew, or by the Muslim method (halal) for the food of Muslims by a Muslim.”
McVey has been approached for comment.
