De Facto ‘Ban’ On Kosher And Halal Meat In British Parliament

Image by Getty
British politicians have been made aware of a “longstanding” de facto “ban” on kosher and halal meat being served in cafeterias and cafes in the British Parliament, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The ban was made by Parliament’s catering staff in consultation with animal rights activists. It was uncovered after Jay Stoll, a legislative assistant, asked about finding kosher meat at one of the complex’s nine eateries. The catering company told him that they would not offer meat from animals that had not been “stunned” before slaughter.
“The management team had concluded that providing non-stunned meat would ‘unfairly prejudice those who support ethical slaughter,’” said Stoll, an assistant to a Tulip Siddiq, a Muslim-raised Member of Parliament.
British law requires that all animals be “stunned” before slaughter — with the exception of kosher and halal meat.
“Following careful consideration, the provision of Kosher products when weighed against demand, is not viable in terms of costs, logistics and supplier management. Event organisers have the option to purchase pre-prepared Kosher food at events,” the House of Parliament said in a statement.
“No one is suggesting that Parliament should have a kosher kitchen, but if the caterers have imposed their own ban on non-stunned meat then this is a slur against kosher meat,” said Jonathan Arkush, a barrister and president of the UK’s main Jewish representative body.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Fast Forward A Chicagoan wanted to protest Elon Musk — and put a swastika sticker on a Jewish man’s Tesla
-
Fast Forward NY attorney general orders car wash to stop ripping off Jews with antisemitic ‘Passover special’
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.