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Elections

2024 General Election

On Thursday 4th July, the UK went to the polls to elect their MPs, which determined the next Government.
This page sets out the commitments that relate to farmed animal welfare and agriculture policy made by the political parties. The commitments listed are limited to those that appear within the manifesto of each party - manifestos set out the commitments of each party until the next election is called.

What you can do

Compassion is part of the ‘Crackdown on Cruelty’ campaign, calling on all candidates to commit to 10 pledges for animal welfare – including not limited to improving the welfare of farmed animals.

You can call on the candidates in your area to take the pledge.

You can see the responses given by candidates so far by visiting Votes for Animals.

What are the parties saying?

We are neutral in party politics, but committed to keeping supporters informed about what each party has promised for animal welfare – the manifesto sets out the commitment of each party until the next election is called.

We have analysed the manifestos, and you can find our detailed assessments below (in alphabetical order by party name). We have not taken into account any past statements which have not made it into the manifestos and associated documents.

Please note that the wording that is used is all direct quotes from each manifesto and that the policies are listed because they are relevant to Compassion's work and/or likely to be of interest to supporters in a broader animal welfare context. We have not passed comment on whether any policy is necessarily going to improve animal welfare.

We have also not taken into account any past statements which have not made it into the manifestos and associated documents.

Alliance Party logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • Ensuring any trade deals are consistent with tackling climate injustice, rejecting any new trade deals which fail to maintain or enhance human rights and climate, environmental, food and farming standards.

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • Ensuring adequate funding for Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Fisheries sectors to enable a genuine just transition.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • Repairing the UK-EU relationship, including negotiating a comprehensive Veterinary Agreement.
  • A negotiated Veterinary Medicines Agreement and a grace period for the next phase of goods labelling in the interim.
  • Strengthening the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to ensure fair trading practices for farmers.
  • Calling for enhanced funding for the Office of Environmental Protection to ensure adequate enforcement and on ground presence.
  • Revising fiscal rules to account for the costs of environmental inaction and to enable investment in climate action.
  • Creating a Green New Deal to decarbonise our economy, protect workers, tackle fuel poverty, and create thousands of jobs.
  • Work in close collaboration with our Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to demand the UK Government paves the most ambitious and just path possible to Net Zero.
  • A just transition to net zero, part funded through tax increases on fossil fuel giants and wealth, property taxes on the super-rich and via long-term green bond issuance, ISAs and pension funds.
  • Push to reinstate the Department for International Development and for spending on Official Development Assistance of 0.7% of the UK’s gross national income.
  • The financing and delivery of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the commitment made by all UN member states to ‘leave no one behind’ by 2030.
  • The establishment of the new Loss and Damage Fund under UNFCCC, ensuring the UK pays its fair share and that fossil fuel companies pay towards loss and damage.
  • Support the rights of small-scale farmers in the Global South to gain access to land, seed and finance, and uphold indigenous peoples’ right to land.
  • Support a global climate change fund to help ensure that low-income countries can mitigate the impact of climate change and support international calls for compensation.
  • We will continue to pursue high welfare standards at the UK level and to use the UK’s influence to end global “trophy hunting” and the trade of illegal animal products.
  • We remain committed to extending the ban on hunting mammals with dogs to Northern Ireland.

Read the full Alliance Party manifesto.

Conservative Party logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • All food and drink products imported into the UK, including those from countries we have trade agreements with, must comply with the UK’s high standards. We will always stand up for UK agriculture in our trade deals.
  • Always stand up for farmers when negotiating new trade deals… We will always look for the right deal for farmers. We will continue to support UK agri-food and drink attachés in our embassies abroad, pioneering new markets and new opportunities for our domestic food and drink industry.
  • We will look to agree a free trade agreement with the US when they are ready to do so.
  • We will finalise a free trade agreement with India.
  • We will complete free trade agreements with India and with the Gulf Cooperation Council, home to some of the world’s biggest investors. And we will continue to pursue free trade agreements with countries such as Israel and Switzerland.

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • Increase the UK-wide farming budget by £1 billion over the Parliament, ensuring it rises by inflation in every year. Farmers will be able to spend every extra penny on grants to boost domestic food production on top of maintaining our approach to Environmental Land Management Schemes… We will build on work to date to ensure our schemes work for all farmers, from tenants to the uplands and beyond.
  • Continue to ringfence agricultural funding so it is passed directly on to farming and rural communities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland alongside a new UK-wide £20 million Farming Innovation Fund.
  • Champion our rural communities by backing farmers with a legal target and additional investment for food security, and protecting our best agricultural land from solar farms.
  • We will support Scotland’s fishing and farming industries…. and will increase the UK-wide farming budget by £1 billion over the next Parliament, ensuring the ringfenced amount provided to the Scottish Government rises by inflation each year. We will use powers in the Scotland Act to require the Scottish Government to provide annual reports on how this funding is being utilised and work with them to put a UK-wide food security target into law.
  • We will establish a UK Farming Innovation Fund to deliver grants for innovative agricultural projects directly to farmers in Scotland, promoting economic development in rural areas.
  • Welsh farmers will benefit from a £1 billion increase to the UK-wide farming budget, ensuring the ringfenced amount directed to Welsh farmers increases by inflation throughout the next Parliament, as well as grants for innovative agricultural projects from the £20 million UK Farming Innovation Fund and the extension of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Scheme.
  • We will also build on our new UK-wide food security index by putting a UK-wide food security target into law, adopt a consistent approach to biosecurity across Great Britain and require the Welsh Government to provide annual reports on how ringfenced agricultural funding from the UK Government is spent.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • We will maintain this record flooding funding to continue to protect homes, farms and businesses. This will work alongside the Flood Recovery Framework and Farming Recovery Fund to directly support communities, businesses and farmers affected by flooding.
  • Introduce a legally binding target to enhance our food security. The target will apply UK-wide alongside our UK Food Security Index, the first of its kind, helping us to determine where best to concentrate farming funds. This will also feed into the development of the Land Use Framework.
  • Improve public sector procurement to deliver our goal that at least 50% of food expenditure is spent on food produced locally or to higher environmental production standards.
  • Reform our planning system to deliver fast track permissions for the building of infrastructure on farms, such as glasshouses, slurry and grain stores, and small-scale reservoirs.
  • Use our significant investment in R&D to prioritise cutting-edge technology in areas such as fertiliser and vertical farming.
  • Stick to our plan to support the agricultural sector with the labour it needs to maintain our food security, while moving away from the reliance on seasonal migrant labour with a five-year visa tapered scheme, alongside clear investment in automation and promoting agri-food careers and skills.
  • We will replicate the £100 million UK Seafood Fund to continue to support the sector to thrive. The fund could be used to invest in harbour and fish market upgrades, provide new equipment and technology for fish processing or to support our growing aquaculture sector.
  • We will maintain the leadership on climate change we achieved at COP26 and our efforts to tackle global warming and biodiversity loss.
  • We will continue to ring-fence our commitment to International Climate Finance.
  • We will get to net zero on the fairest possible path and in a way that brings people with us. We will cut the cost of tackling climate change for households and business, and deliver net zero by 2050
  • We will make no changes to the Hunting Act.
  • We remain committed to banning the import of hunting trophies and tackling puppy smuggling and livestock worrying.
  • We will consult UK overseas territories on opportunities to expand [“the Blue Belt programme which protects an area of ocean the size of India”] further.

Read the full Conservative manifesto.

DUP logo

Live Exports

  • [DUP MPs will] continue to argue that all animal welfare legislation, including on the live export of animals for slaughter, should be decided by the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland.

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • The DUP believes the UK should forge international trade deals that benefit agriculture in all parts of our nation. We are clear that food should not be used as a bargaining chip. There is a risk that unfair and unworkable environment targets levied on local farm businesses may lead to the conditions, and reduction in livestock numbers, that usher in a reliance on foreign, cheaper produce farmed under conditions, and to standards, that we would never accept in the UK.
  • The DUP will seek protection for sensitive food and animal products in trade negotiations. We are also urging Ministers to publish annual impact assessments of free trade agreements impacting domestic agriculture

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • In the last term, the DUP team at Westminster secured a guarantee from the Government that the level of annual support provided for direct farm payments would be maintained at pre-2020 levels for the duration of the Parliament. We are committed to standing up for farmers and their businesses once again.
  • DUP MPs will seek an increased, ring-fenced and multi-annual farm support and development budget.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • The DUP believes food production should be recognised as a strategic national asset in the United Kingdom. The needs of our farmers cannot be sacrificed in favour of other policy objectives.
  • The DUP is in favour of setting ambitious targets for the sourcing of local, high-quality food. This should include a commitment by the Government to source 50% of food into the public sector from British farms.
  • DUP MPs will seek a national review of planning policy and law to unlock greater levels of on-farm investment for purposes of growing and processing fruit, vegetables, cultivating crops and improving animal welfare. This should include ensuring rules around permitted development and ammonia emissions adopt a long-term approach to delivering more sustainable farming practices.
  • DUP MPs have been united in support for various animal welfare campaigns and bills, including the banning of trophy hunting imports, foie gras import ban, and greater protections for puppies and kittens against smuggling. Specifically, we voted for stronger custodial sentencing for animal cruelty in England and Wales, bringing other parts of the UK into line with the maximum five-year penalty in place in Northern Ireland. We will build on this record by taking forward provisions of the Kept Animals Bill to tackle puppy smuggling and livestock worrying [and promoting a new approach to tackling increases in attacks by dogs.
  • We will continue to fight to fully restore Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom, including removing the application of EU law in our country and the internal Irish Sea Border it creates.
  • We will continue to argue the case for the full primacy of the United Kingdom internal market and we will continue to reject the undermining of its integrity.
  • We will support policies that promote a more transparent supply chain for agri-food. This should include expanding the powers of the Groceries Adjudicator to address unfair practices and encouraging better pricing for primary producers.
  • DUP MPs will oppose any reduction in compensation rates for cattle infected with bTB; support robust bTB eradication policies and programmes, including targeted badger culling, with the aim moving to a vaccination-only approach to tackling the disease as soon as possible.
  • NI fishermen have benefited from leaving the Common Fisheries Policy. It is right that the discrimination that saw fishing opportunities and quotas, for herring, for example, effectively stolen from Northern Ireland fishermen and awarded to their competitors in the Irish Republic has ended. However, they also deserve a fair allocation of quota within the UK and the DUP will continue to press for this.
  • DUP MPs will continue to press the Government for investment in these important [fishing] areas.
  • The DUP will press for a truly fair [Net Zero] transition which is inclusive of all communities, households and industries and addresses the looming threat of further costs threatened by changes to emissions trading schemes and the impact of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Carbon Mechanism on trade between GB and NI.
  • There must be a concerted effort to tackle the sources of pollution, protect habitats, prevent biodiversity loss and preserve water quality in both Lough Neagh and our rivers throughout Northern Ireland. DUP MPs will support: a multi-agency response, and approach, to the ecological crisis in Lough Neagh; targeted initiatives to prevent pollutants entering our waterways; enforcement action for those who repeatedly or deliberately pollute our rivers or lakes.
  • Urge the next Government to restore the UK foreign aid budget to 0.7% of gross national income (GNI).

Read the full DUP manifesto.

Green Party Logo

End the Cage Age

  • A complete ban on close confinement in cages and the deliberate and unnecessary mutilation of farm animals.

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • NOT MENTIONED

Reforming farm subsidies

  • Financial support for farmers to be almost tripled to support their transition to nature-friendly farming.
  • Farm payments to be linked to reduced use of pesticides and other agro-chemicals.

Antibiotics

  • No routine use of antibiotics in farm animals.

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • An end to factory farming, enforcement of maximum stocking densities.
  • The creation of a new Commission on Animal Protection.
  • Green MPs will work with farmers and other stakeholders to transform our food and farming system, so we are producing healthy, nutritious food at fair prices for consumers and with fair wages for growers. We will also aim to increase the amount of food grown and traded in the UK, and as locally as possible.
  • Biodiversity and soil health to be conserved and improved, leading to cleaner rivers.
  • All UK domestic and overseas territorial waters to offer the highest level of protection to marine life.
  • Increase climate finance for the Global South to 1.5% of GNI by 2033, with an additional contribution to a newly established Loss and Damage Fund.
  • Policies that ensure that good quality surplus food is not wasted.
  • Introduce a new Rights of Nature Act, giving rights to nature itself.
  • Extend people’s access to green space and waterways close to where they live with a new English Right to Roam Act.
  • Set aside 30% of our land and seas by 2030 in which nature will receive the highest priority and protection.
  • Press for regional mutual banks to be set up to drive investment in decarbonisation and local economic sustainability.
  • An immediate end to the emergency authorisation of bee-killing pesticides.
  • An end to badger culling.
  • A ban on all blood sports, including trail hunting.

Read the full list of Green Party General Election 2024 policies.

Labour logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • We will publish a trade strategy and use every lever available to get UK business the access it needs to international markets. This will promote the highest standards when it comes to food production.
  • Labour will seek targeted trade agreements aligned with our industrial strategy.
  • We will seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening co-operation In areas like security, education, technology and climate change.
  • We will deepen our co-operation with partners across the Gulf on regional security, energy and trade and investment.

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • We will introduce a land-use framework and make environment land management schemes work for farmers and nature.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • We will set a target for half of all food purchased across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards.
  • We will champion British farming whilst protecting the environment.
  • We will seek to negotiate a veterinary agreement to prevent unnecessary border checks and help tackle the cost of food.
  • Labour will deliver for nature, taking action to meet our Environment Act targets, and will work in partnership with civil society, communities and business to restore and protect our natural world.
  • We will work with farmers and scientists on measures to eradicate Bovine TB, protecting livelihoods, so that we can end the ineffective badger cull.
  • [Deliver climate leadership by] working together with our international partners, especially those at the forefront of the climate crisis, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the COP30 hosts, Brazil.
  • We will deliver value for money for the British taxpayer by working closely with the Independent Commission for Aid Impact to apply the highest standards to our aid spend – bringing in robust measures of development effectiveness, transparency, and scrutiny.
  • Labour will make the UK the green finance capital of the world, mandating UK-regulated financial institutions – including banks, asset managers, pension funds, and insurers – and FTSE 100 companies to develop and implement credible transition plans that align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.
  • We will ban trail hunting and the import of hunting trophies.
  • We will end puppy smuggling and farming, along with the use of snare traps.
  • We will partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing.

Read the full Labour General Election Manifesto.

Liberal Democrats Logo

End the Cage Age

  • Improving standards of animal health and welfare in agriculture, including a ban on caged hens, and preventing unnecessarily painful practices in farming.

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • Introduce a general duty of care for the environment and human rights in business operations and supply chains.
  • Maintain high health, environmental and animal welfare standards in food production and guarantee that all future trade deals will meet them too, ensuring that Britain’s farmers and food manufacturers are not put at an unfair disadvantage.
  • Renegotiating the Australia and New Zealand trade agreements in line with our objectives for health, environmental and animal welfare standards, withdrawing from them if that cannot be achieved.
  • Ensuring all imported food meets UK standards for health and welfare, and that goods are properly checked.
  • Giving Parliament real power in setting UK trade policy, by ensuring it is properly consulted on and signs off on negotiating mandates and any completed international trade agreements.
  • Placing human rights, labour and environmental standards and protection at the heart of international trade deals.

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • Putting our farming and food system on an environmentally sustainable footing.
  • Liberal Democrats will stand up for British farmers and ensure everyone can get affordable, healthy and nutritious food, produced to high welfare and environmental standards.
  • Accelerate the rollout of the new Environmental Land Management schemes, properly funding it with an extra £1 billion a year to support profitable, sustainable and nature-friendly farming.

Antibiotics

  • Ensuring that no animal product that would be illegal to produce in the UK can be sold here, including… food produced with antibiotic growth promoters.
  • At least matching the EU’s stricter rules on preventative use of antibiotics, and introducing a comprehensive plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance in farm animals.

Labelling

  • Introducing robust and clear-to-understand food labelling.

Other

  • Passing a comprehensive new Animal Welfare Bill to ensure the highest standards possible.
  • Ensuring that no animal product that would be illegal to produce in the UK can be sold here, including foie gras.
  • Introduce a holistic and comprehensive National Food Strategy to ensure food security, tackle rising food prices, end food poverty and improve health and nutrition.
  • Give Britain’s farmers the ability to trade with our European neighbours with minimal need for checks by negotiating comprehensive veterinary and plant health agreements.
  • Support farmers properly in restoring woodland, peatland and waterways, creating new natural flood protections and managing land to encourage species recovery and carbon storage, while producing food for the table.
  • Introducing a range of other ‘public money for public goods’ programmes, such as nature recovery, planting trees and protecting wildlife, contingent on farmers and land managers opting into an Environmental Land Management scheme.
  • Exploring additional funding options to ensure an intelligent transition to better farming practices.
  • Investing in rural and coastal infrastructure and services, including local abattoirs, so that communities are viable and can attract and retain workers, particularly from younger age groups.
  • Using public procurement policy to support the consumption of food produced to high standards of environmental and social sustainability, and which is nutritious, healthy and locally and seasonally sourced.
  • Ensuring that sustainability lies at the heart of fisheries policy, rebuilding depleted fish stocks to achieve their former abundance, including a ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas. Fishers, scientists and conservationists should all be at the centre of a decentralised and regionalised fisheries management system.
  • Ensuring farmers receive proper, independent advice about how to transition to new environmental farm payments schemes, with proper funding for advice services.
  • Supporting farmers to reduce the pollution of rivers, streams and lakes.
  • Working with and rewarding farmers to reduce the use of costly imported and environmentally harmful artificial fertilisers and pesticides, helping to protect bees and other pollinators.
  • Introducing a Research and Innovation Fund to support new and emerging technologies in the sector including the development of alternative proteins in which the UK can become a world leader.
  • Providing local authorities with greater powers and resources to inspect and monitor food production.
  • Remain committed to delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the UK and around the world.
  • Putting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the heart of the UK’s international development policy.
  • Increasing the proportion of ODA [Overseas Development Aid] committed to tackling climate change and environmental degradation, in line with our commitment to climate justice.
  • Tackling the growing global crisis of food insecurity and malnutrition by increasing the proportion of ODA committed to delivering life-saving nutrition interventions.
  • Ensure the UK has the highest possible standards of environmental, health, labour and consumer protection, at least matching EU standards.
  • Meeting the UK’s commitment under the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions by at least 68% from 1990 levels by 2030 [and reaching net-zero by 2045].
  • Set meaningful and binding targets to stop the decline of our natural environment and ‘double nature’ by 2050: doubling the size of the Protected Area Network, doubling the area of most important wildlife habitats, doubling the abundance of species and doubling woodland cover by 2050.
  • Strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and provide more funding to the Environment Agency and Natural England to help protect our environment and enforce environmental laws.
  • Plant at least 60 million trees a year, helping to restore woodland habitats, increase the use of sustainable wood in construction, and reach net zero.
  • Strengthening the powers of local authorities to monitor the health of our rivers, lakes and coastlines, restore our natural environment and tackle climate change.
  • Making sure that the UK has the highest environmental standards in the world.
  • Protecting at least 30% of land and sea areas by 2030 for nature’s recovery.
  • Working together with our European neighbours to tackle the nature crisis, including applying to join the European Environment Agency.
  • Introducing a strategic Land and Sea Use Framework to effectively balance competing demands on our land and oceans.
  • Tackling ‘greenwashing’ by introducing new Blue Carbon and Soils Carbon Standards that are properly enforced and accredited.
  • Working with international partners to fight deforestation around the world.
  • Introduce new laws to crack down on puppy and kitten smuggling.

Read the full Liberal Democrat manifesto. 

Plaid Cymru Logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • We will give Wales a veto over future trade deals that undermine Welsh agricultural communities.

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • We have opposed Labour’s Sustainable Farming Scheme proposal for 10% tree cover on all farms demanding a more flexible approach.
  • We have also called for a reduction in the universal actions required to enter the scheme…Working with the farming unions and others we succeeded in ensuring that the plan will now be delayed for a year and reviewed to ensure it works for farming and for nature.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • We will ensure that food labelling accurately reflects country of origin, allowing consumers to choose food that is ‘Welsh’ and not just ‘British’ so that they can make an informed choice.

Other

  • Plaid Cymru recognises that the climate and nature emergencies are the biggest threat to mankind on a global scale, and reaffirms our commitment to reaching net-zero targets in Wales by 2035 and reversing biodiversity.
  • Plaid Cymru would prioritise work to alleviate the effects of climate change on our communities, and in ways that take account of the psychological as well as physical tolls of this crisis.
  • The school curriculum should equip young people with an understanding of climate challenges and encourage a philosophy of engaging with climate change and the natural world.
  • Plaid Cymru will introduce a broader approach to tackling bovine TB which includes controlling the disease in wildlife.
  • In the face of increased threats from new and emerging animal and plant diseases, we will also support steps to strengthen the UK’s disease surveillance networks, including protecting the UK’s scanning surveillance budget.
  • More must be done to tackle dog attacks on livestock. We will support the re-introduction of livestock worrying legislation.
  • We will look to introduce policies to improve transparency within the supply chain and strengthen the powers of the Groceries Adjudicator to more effectively tackle unfair supply chain practices.
  • Plaid Cymru will continue to promote opportunities to develop local processing capacity and use procurement policy to shorten supply chains, cut food miles and create local jobs.
  • We would introduce a Business, Human Rights and Environment Bill. This would mandate that private companies conduct due diligence in their supply chains to prevent human rights abuses and environmental harms.

Read Plaid Cymru’s full manifesto.

A white arrow pointing to the right saying 'Reform UK' inside a blue circle.

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • NOT MENTIONED

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • Increase the Farming Budget to £3 Billion - Focus on smaller farms. Keep farmland in use. Bring young people into farming. Boost rural economy and culture. Increase innovation and diversification. Help farmers to farm, not pay them to leave or retire.
  • Scrap Climate-Related Farming Subsidies - Productive land must be farmed, not be used for solar farms or rewilding. Replace current subsidies with direct payments. Stop Natural England from taking action that damages farmers.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • Clear labelling for consumer choice.

Other

  • Stop Supermarket Price Fixing - Grant powers to the Competitions and Markets Authority to ensure fair pricing.
  • Help farmers sell their produce directly to the public.
  • Change planning laws to support farm shops with zero business rates.
  • Target 70% [British food] to ensure food security.
  • Taxpayer funded organisations should source 75% of their food from the UK.
  • Boost smaller food processors and abattoirs through tax breaks and other incentives.
  • Cut red tape [for farmers] from HMRC and the British Cattle Movement Service.
  • Stop EU Fishers Taking UK Quotas - End automatic access to UK waters. Every foreign fishing vessel must pay for a licence to gain access to the UK’s 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as designated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Stop Foreign Owners using British flags of convenience. Quota reforms needed to help small scale fishing.
  • Assess the possibility of creating a dedicated coast guard or fisheries protection agency.
  • Ban Foreign Supertrawlers from UK Waters – Extend the ban on pair trawling for bass beyond the South East and 12-mile territorial waters. Ban Dutch vessels from electric pulse fishing in Britain’s 200 mile EEZ.
  • Rebuild UK Fish Processing – tax and other incentives to ensure that all fish caught in British waters are landed and processed in the UK. Fish caught by foreign vessels in UK waters should also be landed and processed here when capacity allows.
  • Revitalise the UK’s Fishing Fleet – Tax incentives and vocational training to increase UK fishing fleets. Include fishing communities in policy making.
  • Guarantee Sustainable [fish] Stocks - Implement a ‘dynamic management system’. Work with national and regional partners such as the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission.
  • Legislate to Scrap EU Regulations with Immediate Effect [including on Net Zero and the Environment]
  • Scrap Net Zero and Related Subsidies
  • Scrap Annual £10 Billion of Renewable Energy Subsidies
  • Start fast-track licences of North Sea gas and oil.
  • Grant shale gas licences on test sites for 2 years.
  • Increase and incentivise ethical UK lithium mining for electric batteries, combined cycle gas turbines, clean synthetic fuel, tidal power and explore clean coal mining.
  • Protect Country Sports. 

Read the full Reform UK Manifesto

SDLP logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • NOT MENTIONED

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • Fight for Sustainable Funding for Farming. The SDLP will work to ensure that new funding streams properly support farmers and are used to encourage the development of environmentally sustainable farming methods that encourages and supports biodiversity across the industry.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • Seek to implement an all-island animal cruelty register. The SDLP supports the introduction of an all-island animal cruelty register to prevent known animal abusers from buying or owning animals in another part of the island.
  • SDLP MPs will continue to lobby the next government on this issue in order to end the scandal of animal abuse across these islands. Restore nature and support a just transition.
  • The SDLP will continue to hold government at Stormont and Westminster responsible for the delivery of a Just Transition, including ensuring that it is a central tenet of all climate action plans by Executive Departments.
  • SDLP MPs will press a new government to include [green jobs levy on large corporations to fund a just transition from carbon intensive industries to new green technology roles] in a new Green Prosperity Plan.
  • SDLP MPs will always support ambitious climate legislation at Westminster. We will also support a ‘Well-being of Future Generations Bill’ to This would be aimed at improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of people here.
  • Campaign for an independent Environmental Protection Agency [for Northern Ireland].
  • Prioritise Water Quality. The SDLP will insist that a newly established Independent Environmental Protection Agency prioritises improvement in the status of our rivers, lakes, transitional & coastal water bodies.

Read the SDLP’s full manifesto.

Sinn Fein Logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • NOT MENTIONED

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • Sinn Féin has consistently challenged the British Government’s under-funding of our public services - including its failure to give certainty to community organisations and farmers regarding the replacement of EU Funding.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • There is now a real opportunity to shape a more prosperous future in a stronger, better and fairer country. An opportunity to create an efficient all-Ireland national health service, a sustainable housing system, affordable childcare, and a fair and just transition to a carbon neutral economy.

Read Sinn Fein’s full manifesto.

SNP Logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • NOT MENTIONED

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • More funding for farming, fishing and other rural sectors.
  • Provide sustainable funding for farming… The UK Government must increase funding for farming – to at least pre-Brexit levels - and provide certainty through multi-annual funding frameworks.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • Agree a veterinary agreement with the EU to ease exports and imports.
  • Give Scotland our rightful share of marine funding… The UK Government must give Scotland our rightful share of marine funding – and provide certainty through multi-annual funding frameworks.
  • Prioritise Scotland’s unique fishing needs… to protect our interests, we will press for real and meaningful engagement for Scotland through the upcoming review of the [EU] trade agreement and continue to call for our fair share of quota through a shift to zonal attachment.
  • Reverse the £1.3bn Westminster cut to our capital budget, to… help to achieve net zero.
  • Demand the devolution of new borrowing powers to invest in a just transition… fair and managed transition to net zero.
  • The UK Government must invest at least £28bn a year in the green economy to deliver a step change in public and private investment in net zero and major investment in the domestic supply chain.
  • SNP MPs will demand the UK Government bring forward an immediate emergency budget following the election to reverse cuts to public spending and deliver meaningful investment in economic growth, including green energy.
  • Establish a Four Nations Climate Response Group to agree climate plans across the UK that deliver on our net-zero targets and ensure the UK Government stops backtracking on climate ambition.
  • Increase investment into loss and damage…. The UK Government must provide a new contribution to the new Loss and Damage Fund which is truly additional to existing commitments.

Read the SNP’s Westminster Manifesto.

UKIP Logo

End the Cage Age

  • NOT MENTIONED

Protecting animal welfare in trade deals

  • NOT MENTIONED

Using farm subsidies to improve animal welfare

  • Maintain and enhance Direct Payments to farmers, ensuring they receive a fair, stable income to invest in their businesses.

Antibiotics

  • NOT MENTIONED

Labelling

  • NOT MENTIONED

Other

  • The Ulster Unionist Party will always champion this vital industry. We will work tirelessly to promote and grow our agriculture and food exports, opening new international markets and supporting our producers to meet the evolving demands of consumers at home and abroad.
  • We will Increase funding for research, development and knowledge transfer to drive innovation, productivity, and sustainability across the sector.
  • Safeguard the natural environment and biodiversity of our countryside, working closely with farmers as the stewards of the land.
  • Cut bureaucracy and streamline compliance processes to reduce the administrative burden on farmers.
  • In agriculture, A.I. applications can optimise crop yields and mitigate environmental impact through precision farming techniques.

Read the Ulster Unionist Party's Manifesto.

Smaller parties

Where parties only stood in a small proportion of the 650 seats across the country (or across their region, in the case of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parties), we normally do not include them.

Together, we will keep up the pressure to make the UK a global leader in farm animal welfare.

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If you have any further questions regarding this, or any other matter, please get in touch with us at supporters@ciwf.org.uk. We aim to respond to all queries within two working days. However, due to the high volume of correspondence that we receive, it may occasionally take a little longer. Please do bear with us if this is the case. Alternatively, if your query is urgent, you can contact our Supporter Engagement Team on +44 (0)1483 521 953 (lines open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm).