A bid to label all Halal and Kosher meat is being blocked by Parliament after a Manchester MP forced a vote in Commons.
Conservative MP Philip Davies wanted customers in the UK to be fully informed about what products they bought however Labour’s Gorton MP Sir Gerald Kaufman spoke out.
MPs voted to block the Food Labelling (Halal and Kosher Meat) Bill 73 to 70, a majority of three.
Mr Davies said while Muslims make up three per cent of the UK population it is estimated Halal meat makes up around 25 per cent of meat sales in Britain.
He said: “There are some people in this country who would wish to ban Halal and Kosher meat on animal welfare grounds. I am not one of those people – I’m happy for people to make the decision themselves – but they should be allowed to make an informed decision.
“My Bill does not favour one or the other – it is to help everybody.”
Sir Gerald said he did not believe Mr Davies’ Bill was anti-Semitic, but said he strongly opposed it because it was inconsistent by picking out only the practices of Muslims and Jews.
Sir Gerald told the Commons: “This has profound connotations of religious feelings and I would be letting my own faith down, my family, I would be letting my many, many good decent, fine religious Muslims in my constituency down if I did not state my total opposition to this Bill.”
