Controversy as Lancashire council bans unstunned halal meat from 27 schools

Unstunned halal meat is to be banned from 27 council-run schools in Lancashire.

The decision was made at a meeting of Lancashire County Council, with 41 councillors voting in favour of the ban, while 24 voted against and 15 abstained.

The 27 schools will be served only stunned halal beef and lamb from December, when their supplier changes.

The issue of chicken remains undecided, as some Muslims are concerned that stunning the birds kills them. A consultation between councillors and the county’s Council of Mosques will follow.

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Geoff Driver, the Conservative leader of the council, said that not stunning animals before slaughter was “abhorrent”.

He told Lancashire Telegraph yesterday (Thursday): “This is an animal welfare issue, nothing more nothing less.

“The reason it has been raised now is because the contract for meat supplies is coming up for renewal.

“We could have decided it at Cabinet but in view of the sensitivity of this issue and strongly held views on both sides, I thought it best if it was brought before full council so that every County Councillor could have his or her say.”

Cllr Driver added: “In my view, with modern methods of reversible stunning, there is no need for animals to suffer during slaughter.

“This view is actually shared by the vast majority of Muslims in this country where 84 per cent of halal meat comes from animals that were stunned before they were slaughtered.”

Meat that is labelled halal has been slaughtered by a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe. The flowing blood has then been drained from the carcass.

Currently, 12,000 pupils at the 27 Lancashire schools, in Blackburn, Nelson, Burnley, Rawtenstall, Hyndburn, Clitheroe and Preston, receive unstunned meat.

Last month, Abdul Qureshi, the Lancashire Council of Mosque’s chair, told the BBC that a decision to ban unstunned halal meat would cause major problems.

He said: “People will pull out of school meals and people who should eat properly will be deprived of that. For us it’s a matter of faith. For Geoff Driver it is his feelings.”