Halal meat is now widespread throughout UK supermarkets, restaurants, takeaways and shops without any regulation that it must be labelled as halal. Companies say it is cheaper and easier to just have everything as Halal then everyone can eat it. However, they have not even considered that many non Muslims do not want to eat Halal meat or even given them a choice. As a result a lot of meat is halal but not labelled and many non Muslims are eating it without even being aware or being able to find out.
The Muslim population of the UK is only approx 5.5% in 2017. So why is the other 94.5% being made to eat Halal too? I would argue that more than 5.5% of the population do not want to eat it and do not agree with the slaughter method, especially when the animal is not stunned beforehand, but they are not being catered to.
The EU’s 2009 Slaughter Regulation requires all animals, including poultry, to be stunned before slaughter but the UK has invoked the “religious exemption” from the EU’s “slaughter directive” and in practice now carries out more halal slaughter than the rest of Europe. In the UK the stunning of the animal first is not mandatory.
But this is not actually about which method of slaughter is best as all animal slaughter can be viewed as cruel. This is about Islamic practices being imposed on the non Muslims of the UK.
To make it fair all meat should be labelled to show whether it is halal or not so that all consumers can be catered for and have a choice. If a Muslim has a right to eat halal meat then non Muslims also have a right to eat non halal meat and to know that it is not halal.