A promise to ban imports of fur and foie gras has been effectively ditched after a cabinet revolt, a government minister has confirmed.
Zac Goldsmith had pledged that the restrictions – once hailed as a key post-Brexit freedom – would go ahead by next year, insisting he was “completely committed” to them.
But the environment minister has now admitted the government is merely considering “any further steps that could be taken” and “potential action” on the controversies.
The climbdown follows objections from right-wing cabinet ministers including Jacob Rees-Mogg, which derailed the promised legislation earlier this year.
Kerry McCarthy, Labour’s shadow minister for climate change, said: “We were told that post-Brexit we’d be able to take back control and ban foie gras and fur imports, but then Jacob Rees Mogg et al got very upset.”
The MP criticised Lord Goldsmith for failing to reply to a letter sent in April until after MPs had left Westminster for their summer recess.
Animal rights campaigners also fear they will lose a champion when Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie moves out of Downing Street with him in September.
Production of fur and foie gras is already outlawed in the UK, but the government had promised to ban trade in the products to prevent cruelty to animals.
An action plan last year pointed to the end of the post-Brexit transition period in January 2021 as the opportunity to extend “existing import restrictions on seal, cat and dog fur”.
On foie gras from force-fed ducks or geese, it said: “We are committed to building a clear evidence base to inform decisions on banning the import or sale of foie gras.”
In May, even after legislation was left out of the Queen’s Speech, Lord Goldsmith said he was “absolutely convinced” the bans would go ahead, saying: “There are lots of different ways of taking it through [parliament].”
But, in a letter to Ms McCarthy, the peer has written the government is only “considering any further steps that could be taken in relation to foie gras”.
On fur, he said: “We launched a call to action on the fur sector along with other forms of engagement with interested parties and will be publishing the outcome in due course.”
Dozens of the UK’s leading animal charities had protested at the pulling of the Animals Abroad Bill, in dismay at the threat to years of their fighting for the crackdowns.
The bill would also have banned the advertising of cruel tourism activities abroad, such as elephant rides and elephant entertainment venues.
And it vowed to target hunters from the UK who travel abroad, often to southern Africa, and pay thousands of pounds to legally shoot lions, elephants and even baboons.
Lord Goldsmith said the trophy ban would go ahead, with the government giving time to a backbench bill put forward by the Tory MP Henry Smith.
But he said the government is only “exploring options” to outlaw the advertising of “unacceptably low welfare activities involving wild animals”.
