Christians Under Attack

Mrs Andrena Robinson took the meat back to her local store after she read in the press that all of Tesco’s New Zealand lamb was slaughtered according to Islamic ritual.

The duty manager at the Tesco store said he would not refund her unless there was a problem with the quality of the meat.

Conscience

But Mrs Robinson told him that if she had been a Muslim who had unknowingly bought non-Halal meat, the store would give her money back.

She said: “I felt that as a Christian I had as much right to demand a refund. At that point he relented and reluctantly took the meat back.”

If Tesco had continued to refuse her a refund when it would have given one to a Muslim, Mrs Robinson could have launched a legal action.

She added: “If I’d known it was Halal I would not have bought it. It is an issue of conscience for me, something I feel strongly about.

Labelling

“If meat is Halal, it should be clearly labelled. Then customers can make an informed choice.”

There is now a growing campaign for supermarkets to properly label any Halal meat sold in their store.

Mrs Robinson is concerned about the growing disregard for Christian values. She said: “Christianity is being marginalised and at the same time there is an over-sensitivity to Islam.”

The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge said: “It’s disappointing that Mrs Robinson had to argue with Tesco before getting her refund.

Freedom

“Christians will have different opinions about whether they personally would eat Halal meat, but people should be given freedom of choice.

“Mrs Robinson chose to return the meat and Tesco should have been quicker to respect her choice.”

Last month a Mail on Sunday investigation found that numerous restaurants, fast-food chains, and supermarkets are selling Halal meat without telling customers.

Imposed

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said at the time: “I don’t object to people of different religious groups being catered for but it’s not something that should be imposed on everybody else”.

Mr Rosindell, who is also secretary of the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, continued: “The vast majority of people in this country would not want meat of this origin.

“The outlets have a duty to let their customers know because some will object very strongly, not least because of the animal welfare implications of Halal.”

Informed

An RSPCA spokesman said: “The public have a right to know how their meat is produced. Many people are extremely concerned about animal welfare. What the Mail on Sunday has discovered shows that people are not being kept informed.”

The Mail on Sunday itself hit out at the revelations saying customers needed to know if their meat was Halal.

It said: “The reticence of public bodies and private companies about this matter results from the same force which affects so many other areas of our national life: multiculturalism, allied with political correctness.

Choice

“No doubt it is costlier to provide everyone with a choice. But if similar methods were secretly adopted by slaughterhouses purely to save money, there would be a major public controversy.

“Sensible tolerance rightly permits Kosher and Halal butchers to slaughter animals using the methods required by their faiths. But the stealthy introduction of ritually slaughtered meat into British daily life goes far beyond tolerance”, it added.

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