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Who is pledging support to decapod welfare in the General Election?

Polling day is just over one week away but people across the country have already started voting by post, as candidates and party leaders continue to campaign for votes in the upcoming UK General Election.


Pledging to prioritise decapod welfare 

As we said at the start of the election campaign – we wanted to make sure that ALL candidates knew about our 5 key asks ahead of the election, so that the new government is ready to move quickly to improve the welfare of millions of these animals every year. 


So... we have been busy contacting candidates far and wide and urging them to support our asks. We’ve also been delighted that so many of our supporters have been doing the same. More than 3,000 candidates have heard from us – and we’ve started getting support from across the political divide. Check out our pledge gallery to see if your local candidate has pledged their support to protect decapods.


If they aren't there - don't worry - there is still time to get in touch with the candidates who will be seeking your vote and ask them to support our calls to improve decapod welfare. Use our pre-written email to contact your prospective MP today, it only takes a few minutes and could make all the difference.



Party Manifestos  

Over the past month political parties have also been publishing their manifestos – setting out what they would do in government. We are disappointed that, despite providing evidence to party spokespeople and policy development teams, there is no mention of improving decapod welfare in any of the manifestos. This makes it even more important that as many individual candidates hear about our asks as possible – and we need you to help us show tomorrow’s MPs that people care about these animals.  


With the polls showing a consistent majority for Labour – their manifesto is thin on animal welfare detail but does include a pledge to “improve animal welfare”. The Conservatives, who passed the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 which recognises decapods as capable of experiencing pain and emotions, do not have any animal welfare pledges but do promise to replicate the UK Seafood Fund which would support coastal communities and could be used for improvements to the fishing fleet which would enhance animal welfare. 


The Liberal Democrats are pledging “comprehensive new animal welfare” legislation, which we would push hard to cover decapods. They have also promised to ensure fishing is sustainable and plan a ban on bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas. The Greens are also proposing such a ban and want to expand Marine Protected Areas in UK waters – alongside an update to the Animal Welfare Act. 


Amongst the smaller parties Reform and the Workers Party make no mention of animal welfare in their manifesto – though we have had individual candidates from both supporting our pledges. The parties who are standing outside of England don’t feature animal welfare heavily in their manifesto – as devolved administrations are responsible for animal welfare. Amongst those which have been published, Alliance Party in Northern Ireland pledge to "continue to pursue high welfare standards at the UK level". Other parties including the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish Labour and the Democratic Unionist Party contain pledges on other areas of animal welfare – but none that will affect decapods. 


We have summarised the manifestos in more detail on our website and will update our General Election hub as more manifestos are published – keep an eye out here for updates: https://www.crustaceancompassion.org/manifestos  

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