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Vegan shadow MP

How does the UK mainstream press respond to a vegan being appointed to the position of Shadow Secretary for environment, food and rural affairs.

Well, take a look at some of the headlines below. They range from relatively straightforward to hysterical.

kerry_mccarthy

Jeremy Corbyn appoints vegan Kerry McCarthy to deal with Britain’s farmersThe Independent

(Not too dramatic but the term ‘deal with’ is a bit loaded)

‘No Happy Mother’s Day for Britain’s pigs’: Militant vegan MP who branded livestock farming ‘dirty and cruel’ is given shadow cabinet role… trying to connect with British farmersMail Online

(Militant is the key word here – it sets up what is primarily an attack on the concept of compassion including the idea of how outrageous it is that Kerry doesn’t wear wool)

Now Jeremy Corbyn puts vegan ‘who wants to eradicate farms’ in charge of… FARMSThe Express

(Totally misrepresents the concept of rejecting violence towards animals as an anti-farm crusade – I’ve never met anybody who is anti-farm! LOL)

Bristol MP Kerry McCarthy wins place in Jeremy Corbyn’s reshuffled cabinetBristol Post

(Non-hysterical headline from a local newspaper – although not sure how someone ‘wins’ a job)

Kerry McCarthy named as shadow Defra ministerCIWM

(Straight to the point from this waste management specialty publication)

Shadow Defra secretary revealed as anti-meat campaignerFarmers Weekly

(This shady piece even mentions that Kerry studied Russian politics at university – subtle but trying to raise suspicion of her character)

That is just a small selection of what has been written about Kerry McCarthy over the past 24 hours.

I have nothing but admiration and respect for her. Imagine stepping into a role like this as a dedicated vegan activist when you know the deluge of character assassinations headed your way.

I’m not sure I would have said yes so willingly to such a role. Thank you for being a fearless voice for animals, Kerry.

You can follow Kerry McCarthy on Twitter.


vote vegfest 2015

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Written by fatgayvegan

4 Comments
  1. Full support to Kerry, huge achievement and is a much needed voice against the lobbyists of Defra. If only animal ‘farmers’ could see the benefits of swapping their land use to crops. Until then, farmers will do what they are subsidised to do.

  2. Apparently the Independent’s article was most critical & had to be edited after a number of complaints – see the comments (I haven’t seen the original article):
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-appoints-a-vegan-to-deal-with-britains-farmers-10500157.html

    Interesting exchange on Marcus Brigstocke’s Twitterfeed last night: he was initially upset at the news, being concerned about the “perception” that appointing a vegan to the role might lose Labour support. But a decent & informative discussion ensued with Kerry – including her giving a link to this recent event she hosted, http://agroecology-appg.org/ourwork/press-release-farmers-gather-in-parliament/& another group she works with – http://www.soilassociation.org/antibiotics – & her saying to give her some time, which meant they parted on good & encouraging terms.

    Plus her support of League Against Cruel Sports & her recent work in introducing the Food Waste (Reduction) Bill – all makes her a pretty logical choice for the role. I wish her all the very best in the role!

  3. Here’s another article:

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/16/vegan-shadow-agriculture-minister-jeremy-corbyn-kerry-mccarthy

    (A slightly strange formulation in ‘most vegans have emphatically chosen to disengage with the meat and dairy industries because they deem the standards of rearing and slaughtering animals for food too low’–as if there could ever be acceptable ‘standards’ of slaughter. It may be an unintentional implication.)

    I wish her very well in the role. If anyone can break down the silly stereotypes in the critical articles, she can. It seems like a fortuitous appointment.

  4. I think with vegan Kerry McCarthy, as above, and vegetarians including Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, & Shadow Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, amongst others, I think it’s unlikely we’ll see an unpleasant political tale on Labour’s side to match the allegations currently circulating about Cameron’s disgraceful porcine student excesses: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2015/sep/21/cameron-hit-by-student-drugs-and-debauchery-allegations-in-ashcroft-biography-politics-live

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