Ukip’s manifesto pledges a series of policies on the practice of shechita in Britain.
Launched by leader Paul Nuttall in Westminster today, the party’s general election document said leaving the European Union would allow Britain to “regain control of animal health and welfare issues”.
The party would insist on kosher and halal products being labelled as such, with identification of the slaughter method.
The 2017 manifesto repeats Ukip’s pledges of two years ago, including installing CCTV monitoring in abattoirs and banning religious slaughter “being carried out by unqualified individuals in unregulated premises”.
After the Conservative Party included the same policy on CCTV in its manifesto last week, Shechita UK, the group which seeks to protect Jewish religious slaughter in Britain, said it backed the move.
In a statement the group said: “Shechita UK has always supported the call for CCTV in abattoirs and has repeatedly spoken to government on the issue.
“As long as CCTV is across all abattoirs we believe it will dispel many of the myths regarding religious slaughter and be used as a tool to prevent major animal welfare abuses.
“We also believe it will continue to show the harm many mechanical stunning methods cause animals.”
Shechita UK is understood to also back labelling. All kosher products already carry a hechsher.
Ukip’s policy on religious slaughter appeared confused ahead of the 2015 election, with a series of clarifications issued by senior figures.
The party had said it would ban all non-stun slaughter of animals, but then backtracked, telling the JC shechita was an unintended target of the policy, with a spokesman saying at the time: “This isn’t aimed at you. You’ve been caught in the crossfire; collateral damage. You know what I mean”.
On Israel and the Palestinians, Ukip said it wanted to see “a peaceful resolution” to the conflict. Without giving specific details of how the party would pursue such a result, the manifesto says Ukip would “put our full diplomatic weight behind seeking this outcome”.
More generally on the region, the manifesto adds: “We will maintain our sceptical view of neoconservative arguments for attempting to deliver change in the Middle East at gunpoint.
“You cannot bomb people into democracy. When it comes to the greatest threat to world peace and the British way of life, Ukip is convinced this comes from the spread of radical Islam across the globe.
“The threshold for seeking to topple anti-Islamist leaders will therefore remain very high indeed.”
The manifesto does not outline Ukip’s policy on challenging antisemitism.
Following the manifesto launch, Shimon Cohen, Shechita UK campaign director, said: “We have worked hard with Ukip over a number years, and particularly since the calling of the general election, to ensure that their manifesto pledges are in line with our community practices.
"We have always supported the call for CCTV and our community was the first to introduce food labelling. However meat labelling must be comprehensive and specify all methods of slaughter, including detailing when mechanical methods have repeatedly gone wrong, this information will give consumers real choice."
