Defra in the dock: campaigners poised to take UK Government to court over factory farming
Campaigners are standing at the precipice of what they believe will be a landmark first legal action against any government. We caught up with Humane Being and the Scrap campaign who, together with co-claimant veterinarian Dr Alice Brough and with the help of high-profile human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC, have just issued a ‘last chance’ warning prior to launching a case that will finally hold to account the UK Government for the grave threat posed by factory farming.
Back in December last year, Surge spoke to David Finney, Jane Tredgett and Peta Smith, volunteers at Humane Being, about the launch of their pioneering Scrap Factory Farming campaign the aim of which is audacious yet to the point - ban all factory farming in the UK. The imperative cannot be denied with an urgent need to prevent further pandemics, reduce the exploitation of non-human animals and halt runaway climate change.
The flagship strategy of the campaign - to take the UK Government to court and finally hold our elected representatives to account - is nothing short of monumental, which of course it has to be. Four months after first announcing their intentions, Humane Being together with co-claimant veterinarian Dr Alice Brough - and with the considerable legal prowess of human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC who also represents the victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster - are making the final moves before launching their action.
A last-chance ‘letter before action’ has been sent to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) by Mansfield’s legal team at Hackett & Dabbs LLP, acting under the instructions of Humane Being. This comes after months of waiting for a satisfactory response to an earlier letter sent in December, querying government plans regarding factory farming and related threats to human health. Defra responded, but as is apparent it was “unconvincing” and played down the many serious issues linked to factory farming.
It stands to reason that Defra and the Government, whose primary remit is to always act in the best interests of UK citizens, is complicit in all the consequences of our continued dependence on factory farming should they fail to exercise their powers to regulate and end the threat. The scientific evidence and consensus are undeniable. Factory farming is responsible for the increased threat of novel zoonotic diseases that can lead to future pandemics - avian influenza just a few mutations away from widespread human-to-human transmission. Not to mention the threat of growing antibiotic resistance with the World Health Organization estimating that increasingly ineffective antibiotics will lead to the deaths of ten million people a year by 2050.
“The recent multiple outbreaks of avian influenza in this country further demonstrate that we need to take such risks extremely seriously,” said Lorna Hackett of Hackett & Dabbs LLP. “This case, which we believe to be a global first, starts with a key mitigator; the banning of cruel factory farming. Factory Farming breeds and risks incidences of disease, posing a health risk that the authorities cannot continue to ignore”.
Humane Being also claims quite rightly that ending factory farming is crucial if we are to meet Paris Agreement climate targets. With COP26 coming up in Scotland later this year and the eyes of the world fixed firmly on the UK, now is the time for our politicians to walk the walk, not just talk the talk when it comes to climate justice.
“Scrapping factory farms is also vital if we are to tackle the climate and environmental emergencies,” said Scrap Factory Farming campaigner Robert Gordon. “Globally, around 15% of greenhouse gases are from animal farming, soya from South America is fed to UK factory farmed animals and the UK Climate Change Committee are recommending that we eat a healthy diet, with less beef, lamb and dairy.”
When we asked Humane Being about the realistic chances of successful legal action, Jane Tredgett, Founder and Director of Humane Being, said: “Of course we want to see UK factory farming scrapped, but we’d settle for phased out by 2025 and very importantly not see animal products replaced from factory farms abroad. We want planning applications for factory farms stopped and subsidies shifted to healthy and sustainable farming.
“We hope this will be a catalyst to encourage others to make similar challenges elsewhere in the world. At the very least, we are hoping that with top QC Michael Mansfield on board, the ‘world first’ aspect and the ‘David and Goliath’ feel, we will get mainstream media coverage to raise awareness.
“We want ardent meat eaters to look at what is on their plate and make the connection to pandemics. To realise it is a case of when the next one will come not if. We want the Government and media to start acknowledging the connection between zoonoses, farming and pandemics and giving out messaging on behaviour change. Covid-19 has shown that people can and will mobilise if they understand the severity of the threat.”
It would not be a discussion about factory farming without acknowledging the untold and incomprehensible levels of exploitation of cows, pigs and other farmed non-human animals. Scrap has already claimed a victory on this point, having persuaded the RSPCA to call publicly for an end to intensive animal farming in the UK. A resolution at a recent RSPCA AGM, acknowledging the serious, immediate and long-term issues linked to factory farming, was voted through by a majority of 88 per cent.
Dr Alice Brough, co-claimant in the impending action, said: “Having worked for several years in one of the UK’s most intensive sectors, I am all too familiar with the problems arising from factory farming. I don’t believe many people would want to eat animal products from these farms if they could see where they come from; not only are the conditions abhorrent for the animals, but these facilities pose a real danger to society and are undoubtedly contributing to accelerated development of antimicrobial resistance. This challenge is vital to address some of the most pressing issues faced by humanity today, focussing on prevention rather than waiting for disaster to strike before responding.”
So with all the focus on factor farming, is other farming somehow better - is there a danger here of pushing people towards organic, grass-fed labels? A common criticism of pressure campaigns that focus on one area is that there is an implication that other injustices are relatively ‘ok’. But pressure campaigns are called just that because they work by exerting force on one key topic to pave the way for others, all of which are rooted in the total liberation of all animals and the climate.
“We are not saying that other farms are okay – only that Factory Farms are really bad – the worst hell holes for animals, the biggest disease risk for humans,” said Tredgett in closing. “No-one has ever attempted anything like this and we have had to work for a year to build this case. Going for all farming simply would not have had any chance of succeeding. Let’s get factory farming scrapped – it would make a massive difference to a huge number of animals, help people start to join up the dots, see the cruelty of factory farming, start to ask more questions about farming practices and recognise the risks to humans. We want this to be a catalyst for change, a pivotal shift, a foundation stone.”
The Scrap Factory Farming campaign has already crowdfunded £25,000 for legal proceedings and is aiming to raise £60,000 in total. To support the campaign, visit Scrapfactoryfarming.org or go straight to their crowdfunder at crowdjustice.com/case/scrapfactoryfarming.
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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