Dutch MPs target ritual slaughter

28 June 2011 Last updated at 16:58 GMT Muslim and Jewish communities said the legislation infringed on their religious freedom The Dutch lower house of parliament has passed a law effectively banning the ritual slaughter of animals, in a move condemned by Muslim and Jewish groups.

The legislation states that all animals must be stunned before being killed.

But the Islamic dhabiha and Jewish shechita methods of ritual slaughter require them to be fully conscious.

The legislation was proposed by an animal rights party with two MPs, which argued that failing to stun the animals subjected them to unnecessary pain.

But debate over the matter swiftly became a focus of animosity towards the Netherlands' 1.2 million-strong Muslim community. The country's Jewish population is comparatively small at 50,000.

Following months of debate a last minute concession was offered - the Muslim and Jewish communities will have a year to provide evidence that animals slaughtered by traditional methods do not experience greater pain than those that are stunned before they are killed.

However, observers say finding such proof will be virtually impossible.

The bill must still be approved by the upper house of parliament before it can become law.

Religious freedom

Before Tuesday's vote, the head of the Party for the Animals, Marianne Thieme, denied the bill was an attack on religious minorities.

She argued the law was necessary because scientists agreed that animals suffered pain or fear if they were not stunned before slaughter, and because current regulations allowed exceptions for ritual slaughter.

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One of the first measures taken during the Occupation [by Nazi Germany during World War II] was the closing of kosher abattoirs”

End Quote Binyomin Jacobs Dutch Chief Rabbi "If you stun an animal before it's been killed, the animal won't experience its own death," she told the BBC World Service. "If you have new techniques to ensure there's no unnecessary suffering then you have to use it."

"Three-thousand years ago, there were no anaesthetics," she added. "But since then we have developed more humane methods."

In a rare show of unity, the Muslim and Jewish communities condemned the legislation and said it infringed on their religious freedom.

"One of the first measures taken during the Occupation [by Nazi Germany during World War II] was the closing of kosher abattoirs," Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs told MPs during a debate in The Hague.

"If we no longer have people who can do ritual slaughter in the Netherlands, we will stop eating meat," he added.

The Party for the Animals said two million animals were subjected to ritual slaughter every year in the Netherlands, although the organisation Halal Correct said only 250,000 were killed without being stunned beforehand.

To make meat kosher for Jews or halal for Muslims, animals must be slaughtered while still awake, by swiftly cutting the main arteries and veins in their necks with sharp knives, and then allowing the blood to drain out.

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Huhne announces emissions target

17 May 2011 Last updated at 17:15 GMT Energy Secretary Chris Huhne: "We intend to keep our carbon trading options open"

Chris Huhne has committed the UK to cut carbon emissions by 50% of 1990 levels by 2027 and change the way Britain produces energy.

The energy secretary - who is battling claims he asked someone close to him to take speeding points for him - briefed MPs on the UK's fourth "carbon budget".

He said there would be a review of progress in early 2014 to ensure the UK's targets were in line with Europe.

Labour accused him of a "go-slow" on green progress.

'Green growth'

Addressing the Commons, Mr Huhne said the decision would be reviewed in three years to ensure the targets are "aligned" with other members of the European Union, which he said made "pragmatic sense".

Countering claims that energy consumers would face price hikes as a result of the measures, he said it would result in no additional cost for the consumers during this parliament.

He also revealed the government was "working up a package of measures" to be announced by the end of the year to help energy-intensive industries "adjust" to the transformation while remaining competitive.

Mr Huhne told MPs the budget would "set Britain on the path to green growth".

"It will establish our competitive advantage in the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy," he said.

Continue reading the main story Richard Black Environment correspondent

The announcement makes the UK the first country in the world to have declared a "legally binding" target on greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020.

The set of five-yearly carbon budgets maps out the stages the UK should go through on the way to its long-term goal of cutting emissions by 80% by 2050 by what advisers consider the most economic route.

Political squabbles in cabinet have left their scars.

Energy-intensive industries will gain relief from rising electricity prices, via details to be announced later, while the carbon budget will be reviewed in 2014 in case UK ambition means it is losing out against continental rivals.

I understand that a key factor in the decision to go with the carbon budgets advisers recommendations was a threat by Greenpeace to take the government to judicial review if it gave way to business lobbying.

The budget's adoption has been applauded by a group of leading UK companies for giving "greater certainty for business to invest in green technologies".

"It will generate jobs and export opportunities in these sectors - maintain energy security and protect our economy from oil price volatility. It's a framework for growth, not just for action on climate but for growth and prosperity."

The Climate Change Act 2008 sets a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the UK by at least 80% on 1990 levels by 2050, and also requires the government to set carbon budgets - limits on emissions - for consecutive five year periods.

These carbon budgets must be set at least three budget periods in advance, and the fourth carbon budget - the limit on emissions from 2023 to 2027 - has to be set in law by June 2011.

The 2027 targets follow recommendations from the government's official advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change.

Mr Huhne said he agreed with the committee that net emissions over this period should not exceed 1950 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent - a 50% reduction from 1990 levels.

"We will aim to reduce emissions domestically as far as is practicable and affordable," he said.

"But we also intend to keep our carbon trading options open to maintain maximum flexibility and minimise costs in the medium term. Given the uncertainty of looking so far ahead, this is a pragmatic approach."

'Delighted'

Shadow climate change secretary Meg Hillier accused Mr Huhne of a "go-slow" on green progress, saying that the "long-awaited Green Investment Bank" was unable to borrow until 2015, pointing out: "So no rush there."

She said meeting carbon targets was impossible without cutting domestic emissions, adding: "Policy needs to be joined up if we are going to get the green industrial revolution we need in this country."

But Committee on Climate Change chief executive, David Kennedy, said he was "delighted" the government had accepted its recommendations and that it would "ensure that we make the right investment choices, maximising long-term growth and reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels".

However, Green MP Caroline Lucas remained critical of the announcement which "risked being a sham", she said, citing the "slipped in a concessionary review clause which will allow the government to backtrack on the fourth carbon budget".

She concluded: "On the crucial issue of how we now meet the targets, the government has shunned the CCC's recommendation that the budget should be met through domestic action alone.

"Allowing the use of trading mechanisms such as offsetting essentially means outsourcing our emission reduction responsibilities to other countries - thereby weakening the drive to achieve more green technologies and industries, with all the jobs those can bring, here in the UK."

Friends of the Earth welcomed the budget but said the "get-out clause" could undermine business confidence in investing in a greener future.

Consumer watchdog Which? has expressed concern that domestic customers will not be similarly shielded from price rises.

The Committee on Climate Change has forecast that to meet emissions targets the average household fuel bill will go up by ?1 a week until 2020 when it will plateau out with no major rises after that.

Mr Huhne faced taunts from some Labour MPs over allegations he asked someone close to him to take speeding points on his driving licence - which are firmly denied by the minister.

Labour's Geraint Davies asked if the carbon targets "would be helped by lowering the speeding limit for cars or does he think the speeding limit for cars should be raised like the transport secretary and presumably his wife?"

Mr Huhne replied that the question was "well above his pay grade".

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