Michael as usual put it more concise and eloquently than I could.
Food is one thing.
Do we all want to be veggies? of course not.
I like meat, in this day and age, it has to be 'farmed'.
Would you give up your day jobs to go hunting for food, for days, uncertain if you could find a beast to roast. sure it would be 'fun' wondering if you would get gored by the boar's tusks. the thrill of going back to nature.
but society has evolved and we have to keep these creatures penned in and bred.
It is 'nature' for one animal to prey on another for survival, not for a pastime.
I am not sure if its me, tho the quality of our meat is poor, its tough, unhung, and fatless. society's obsession with having fresh clean meat, grown fast on steroids for pure max. profit, and as healthy as poss.yet another area in England where we get shafted and get piss poor quality for obscene prices.
Perhaps halal and kosher meat ought to be banned if we are concerned about animal cruelty...is cruelty more important than offending a minority culture. hmmm don't know. If its a majority judgement??
For once I actually think Blair is right to ban it, however his means are suspect. Labour is a mix of good bad and indifferent, like all, but he is past his sell buy and is becoming a liablity. (he's put us all at risk for a madman's political personal grudge who has no interest in us, and just acts alone)