Fur: Import and Sale Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Irene Campbell
Main Page: Irene Campbell (Labour - North Ayrshire and Arran)Department Debates - View all Irene Campbell's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Fur: Import and Sale
Irene Campbell Excerpts(1 day, 7 hours ago)
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Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) for the excellent work that she has done and continues to do on this important campaign. I fully support her Fur (Import and Sale) Bill. I am pleased to say that my constituents have highlighted this debate and asked me to attend. I would have attended anyway, as she knows.
I shall keep this brief, as many points have already been raised. I will focus on fashion. More than 1,600 companies are registered as fur-free on Fur Free Retailer, including leading British designers such as Stella McCartney who pioneer innovative faux fur alternatives. We have already heard how easily faux fur can be produced and used. In 2023, the British Fashion Council introduced a ban on real fur at London Fashion Week, which has continued. Those moves are very welcome.
Farming for fur is inhumane. The fur trade is intense, and the animals are kept in barren wire cages with no ability to act out their natural behaviours. Most cages are only 1 square metre larger than the animals themselves. An investigation by animal welfare charities found that animals experience horrific physical and mental suffering, including self-mutilation and cannibalism.
A Labour Government introduced legislation in 2000 and implemented a fur farming ban here in 2002, making the UK the first country in the world to take that step. Some 21 other countries have now ended fur production, and I hope more will follow. Fortunately, the fur industry is declining and far fewer people are wearing real fur. Years ago, people would even wear dead foxes around their shoulders, although I have no idea why anyone wanted to.
A fur ban is a necessary step towards ending this cruel and unnecessary practice. A UK ban on fur import and sales would send a hugely important global message to those countries that are still engaged in cruel and dangerous fur farming, thereby protecting public health and animal welfare, which should surely be more important than fur for fashion, as we have many alternatives. I very much welcome this debate and look forward to the Minister’s response.