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The Government encourages the highest standards of welfare at slaughter but respects the rights of Jewish and Muslim people to eat meat prepared according to their religion.
The Government is aware of concern about meat from animals slaughtered according to religious beliefs.
Current national regulations on religious slaughter have a long history. The issue was first debated in Parliament in 1875. The Slaughter of Animals Act 1933 introduced a legal requirement for stunning of animals prior to slaughter but contained an exemption where animals were slaughtered for consumption by Jewish and Muslim communities. Over the years the national rules governing religious slaughter have developed to provide additional protection to animals that are slaughtered in accordance with religious rites.
EU Regulation 1099/2009, on the protection of animals at time of killing, requires all animals to be stunned before slaughter except where animals are slaughtered in accordance with religious rites. The EU Regulation and the Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 (WATOK) include strict requirements on where, how and who can slaughter animals in accordance with religious rites. These requirements are monitored and enforced by Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency to ensure that animals are spared unnecessary suffering, distress or pain during the slaughter process.
The legislation also requires each person either handling or carrying out slaughter operations, including religious slaughter, to hold a Certificate of Competence. A person must undergo formal training, understand their responsibilities for the protection of animal welfare during slaughter operations and consistently demonstrate competent performance in order to pass the independent examination to obtain a Certificate of Competence.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This Government is unequivocal in our admiration for the Armed Forces whose sacrifices ensured terrorism would never succeed. However, our approach to the past must be consistent with the rule of law.
This Government will always salute the heroism and bravery of the soldiers and police officers who served to protect the people of Northern Ireland, and in too many cases paid the ultimate price. It is only due to the courageous efforts of our security forces that we have the relative peace and stability that Northern Ireland enjoys today. Our security forces ensured that Northern Ireland’s future will only ever be decided by democracy and consent, and never by violence. Over 250,000 people served in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner, the longest continuous military deployment in our country’s history, the vast majority with courage, professionalism and great distinction. This Government will never forget the debt of gratitude we owe them.Click this link to view the response online:
Criminal investigations and prosecutions are a matter for the police and prosecuting authorities who act independently of government and politicians. This Government believes in the rule of law. Where there is evidence of wrongdoing it is right that this should be investigated and, where the evidence exists, for prosecutions to follow. We do not support amnesties or immunity from prosecution.
This Government remains committed to the full implementation of the legacy institutions in the Stormont House Agreement of December 2014. The Agreement includes a commitment to establish new legacy institutions, among them a Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) to take forward outstanding investigations into Troubles-related deaths.
On 11 May 2018, the UK Government published a consultation paper entitled ‘Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past’. The consultation sets out how the institutions are designed to address different aspects of the legacy of the past. The general principles underpinning the proposed new institutions are set out, including the requirement to operate in ways that are balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable. The Government believes that these institutions, which represent the balance of a political agreement between all the parties to the Stormont House Agreement provide the best way to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past.
The HIU will deal with deaths in chronological order. This will ensure terrorist murders, including 185 murders of soldiers, are investigated and any evidential leads pursued. These include the murders of 18 soldiers at Warrenpoint in 1979 and eight in the Ballygawley bus bombing.
The HIU would take on the outstanding work of the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI’s) Historical Enquiries Team and the outstanding legacy work of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
In order to ensure expeditious investigations and to bring an end to investigations into the past, the HIU will be time-limited, with an objective to complete its work in 5 years and specific obligations governing the extent to which a case requires further investigation.
In contrast to the current investigatory mechanisms, the new institutions will be victim-centred but also include statutory controls on the way that they operate, such as time-limits, strictly defined remits and safeguards to protect national security. These measures aim to bring to a close investigations into the past and have the potential to provide better outcomes for victims and survivors who suffered most during the Troubles.
Northern Ireland Office
The Government is committed to ensuring that the House of Lords continues to fulfil its constitutional role as a revising and scrutinising chamber which respects the primacy of the House of Commons.
As set out in the manifesto, the Government is committed to ensuring that the House of Lords continues to fulfil its constitutional role as a revising and scrutinising chamber which respects the primacy of the House of Commons.Click this link to view the response online:
Whilst comprehensive reform is not a priority, the Government will also continue to work to ensure that the House of Lords remains relevant and effective by addressing issues such as its size.
The Lord Speaker’s committee on the size of the House of Lords, chaired by Lord Burns, made recommendations in October 2017 on ways of reducing the size of the House without requiring legislation. In response, The Prime Minister has written to the Lord Speaker and agreed to continue with the restraint she has shown so far when making appointments to the House. It is incumbent on all sides of the House to consider what they can do to further promote the culture of retirement. In light of the Prime Minister's letter, the Lord Speaker has asked the Committee to reconvene to consider next steps.
Cabinet Office
The Government takes child sexual abuse very seriously. It has set up the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which is investigating the sexual exploitation of children by organised networks.
Child abuse is a despicable crime and the Government is committed to keeping children and young people safe from all forms of abuse. We are clear that if child abuse takes place it must be thoroughly and properly investigated and those responsible brought to justice – the race, age or gender of the perpetrators is irrelevant. Child sexual exploitation is not exclusive to any single culture, community, race or religion, and political or cultural sensitivities must not get in the way of preventing and uncovering it.Click this link to view the response online:
The Government is clear there should be an honest open debate on child sexual exploitation, including racial motivation.
In February 2017, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: Progress Report’ and announced a £40 million package of measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse and exploitation and crack down on offenders. The ‘Progress Report’ details delivery of the ambitious programme of work set out in the 2015 ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ report, and signals a step change in our national response to sexual exploitation and violence against children and young people. The full report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-exploitation-progress-report.
Key Actions include:
• We have invested significantly in the law enforcement response to child sexual abuse, giving it the status of a national threat to empower police forces to apply their best skills and expertise to tackle the problem, and providing millions of pounds of investment through the Police Transformation Fund. This has led to a surge in police activity with an increasing number of cases prosecuted in the courts and heavy sentences handed down. We have invested in the frontline response to child sexual abuse, for example recruiting an extra 100 specialist rape and child sexual abuse prosecutors, establishing new investigative teams in the National Crime Agency, and launching a new Child Sexual Exploitation Response Unit to support social care, health and other agencies. Our new £7.5 million Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse is conducting research into types of offending, so that we can understand and target them more effectively.
• We have funded a large scale communications campaign – Together, we can tackle child abuse – to raise awareness and encourage the public to report child abuse and neglect. Additionally, we have published a revised definition of child sexual exploitation and targeted guidance and training, which will ensure professionals have a shared understanding of what child sexual exploitation is and how best to work together to tackle it.
• We have improved scrutiny through joint inspections of health, police and children’s social care focusing on the quality of frontline practice in dealing with child sexual exploitation and missing children. We have also launched a new national whistleblowing helpline, operated by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), for any employee who wants to raise a concern about how their organisation is dealing with a concern about a child.
• In the last 3 years, we have provided £7 million in funding for non statutory organisations which support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including child sexual abuse, £0.6 million of this funding was distributed directly by the Home Office to organisations working with victims and survivors of sexual abuse over a large geographic area.
In March 2015, the Government established the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to consider the extent to which institutions in England and Wales have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. The Inquiry operates independently of Government and, within its terms of reference, decides for itself what it investigates and how. It has already announced an investigation into institutional responses to the sexual exploitation of children by organised networks. The Inquiry also runs a Truth Project to enable victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to share their experiences in a confidential setting and make recommendations for change. The Inquiry’s work will help us all to understand what went wrong in the past and learn lessons for the future. Further information on the Inquiry, including how to take part in the Truth Project, can be found at: http://www.iicsa.org.uk.
Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent courts taking into account all the circumstances of each case.
Home Office
