Fur flies as watchdog rules story linking animal cruelty to British fur industry was «misleading»

Credit:  Dominic Lipinski/PA

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests revealed that HSI used the footage last summer to help to broker support from Lord Goldsmith, who is pushing for a post-Brexit ban on fur sales with the support of the Prime Minister’s fiance Carrie Symonds. He met with the group in February and May last year.

Three months later, Lord Goldsmith, who is the Defra minister responsible for animal welfare, spoke at an event arranged by the animal rights campaign group calling for a “fur free Britain” 

Ms Symonds, who has previously demonstrated against whaling and the badger cull, tweeted last September that people who wear fur were “sick” and that clothes brands were “nuts” to sell it. 

In July 2019, Lord Goldsmith said: “Brexit could give us the opportunity to close our borders to this grotesque and unnecessary trade.”

The Government plans to launch a consultation into banning fur sales after the Brexit transition period ended on December 31.

Credit:  John Stillwell/PA

Fur farming was banned in 2003 but the UK still allows the product to be imported from overseas. France is one of the biggest suppliers, along with Denmark, Finland, USA, Italy, Poland and Canada. 

A ban would affect imports of almost £200 million of fur and fur-based products every year, many of which come from the European Union.

Giles Roca, chief executive of the British Fur Trade Association said: “This is a huge blow to those animal rights activists pushing a fur ban in the UK, led by Humane Society International. As the Regulator also made clear, the sale of fur in the UK is highly regulated with exacting animal welfare and legal standards.”

A spokesman for HSI said: “HSI’s investigation was a shocking and truthful insight into the lives of animals on fur farms. We place great importance on ensuring the verifiable accuracy of the information we place in the public domain, but of course have no control over how others report on our work.

Skinned foxes piled in heap 'like scene from hell' before fur sold as coats — join our Mirror campaign for a #furfreeBritain https://t.co/JdlamqvBe7

— Alison Phillips (@MirrorAlison) July 6, 2020

"This minor correction by the Daily Mirror on one of the assets it produced seems appropriate in light of the fact that our investigation did not directly link this specific farm in China with fur sold in UK shops. The lack of traceability and transparency in much of the fur trade’s global supply chains means making direct farm-to-garment links is extremely challenging, which is why we do not make such assertions. 

“However, whilst victorious in a technicality, the fur trade’s complaint amounts to little more than misdirection when you consider HMRC figures showing that in recent years the UK has imported tens of millions of pounds worth of fur from China, and that successive investigations on fur farms – whether in China, Finland or any country – reveal that all animals farmed for their fur are kept in tiny barren wire cages and subjected to cruel deaths. All animal fur imported and sold in UK shops is a product of suffering, the IPSO ruling changes nothing about that tragic reality.”