Anne Marie Waters 

3rd December 2019 


Labour can always be depended upon to defend the indefensible. Birmingham Labour MP Khalid Mahmood has accused the Green Party’s co-leader Jonathan Bartley of “Muslim bashing” because he expressed sympathy for animals who are tortured to death in the name of medieval superstition and bloodthirst, i.e. halal slaughter.

For those who aren’t aware, halal means torture for innocent and defenceless animals. It means animals are not stunned to unconsciousness (despite the propaganda that says they are, they are not) prior to slaughter. They die in pain and in terror and if you object to this, you’ll be the bad guy.

I have been passionate about animals all of my life. I have deep sympathy and compassion for them, and cruelty towards the defenceless is what the word ‘evil’ truly means in my view.

I understand the food chain. I understand that death is part of life, that animals hunt and eat each other, and I am not, and never have, advocated the end of meat production. But this, this is different. This is cruel and completely unnecessary and I would ban it in an instant.

My party’s policy is to ban all un-stunned slaughter, including Kosher.  It’s the animal that matters, not religion.  Religious communities have many times changed their traditions, and they can do it again now.

Khaled Mahmood however doesn’t believe that I, or Jonathan Bartley, are actually motivated by concern for animals. He can read our minds apparently. Mahmood did what some Muslim loudmouth always does when there’s a complaint about the many disgusting practices of this religion; he played the victim. He said “This is nothing to do with the green agenda. This is purely to do with scapegoating the Muslim community.” What remarkable insight. I’m fairly certain he doesn’t know the inner thoughts of Mr Bartley, but he’ll make this assertion anyway, as if it’s a fact.

Mr Bartley, or myself, have no ability to effectively respond, because our actual views are dismissed and we’re told what we really think by someone who knows nothing about us.  What we say doesn’t matter, because Mahmood knows better. This is the beauty of this despicable devious victimhood.

The implication of racism is there of course (it doesn’t need to be named), as well as a nod to the myth of Islamophobia. This victimhood turns reality on its head; the person standing up for defenceless animals becomes the immoral actor, while the person defending the torture of defenceless animals becomes the moral. It’s a complete inversion of morality.

The Greens are a weak party on this, it is not their policy to ban halal or Kosher, so I must admit I reluctantly admire Mr Bartley for telling Nicky Campbell on radio that yes, he would personally ban halal. Good for him.

I do not know if he has backtracked on this, but I have no doubt that millions agree with him, and they are afraid to speak out. They are afraid to speak out because people like Mahmood will implicitly accuse them of bigotry. Meanwhile, millions of animals are tortured to death.

For Britain would ban both halal and Kosher, but we’re also fully aware that British Jews have made no attempts to impose Kosher on the whole of society, and the Kosher market is relatively small. Halal, on the other hand, is served in schools, hospitals, and across the public sector. If you object, you know what will happen.

For Britain is currently campaigning for a ban on all un-stunned slaughter. You can find a variety of videos on our YouTube channel and further information on our site

Animals have no voice, let’s give them one.

Join us.


Anne Marie Waters


For Britain