We are, of course, a nation committed to celebrating cultural diversity. Except, that is, when a foreigner sits down to tuck into a plate of dog meat. Then, we start to behave like the Taliban, believing that we have the right to dictate standards to the entire world.
On Monday, MPs staged a bizarre debate in Westminster Hall on the subject of what should and what should not be served in restaurants in South Korea. While the government could not technically avoid the debate – it was in response to a petition which had gained 102,000 signatures, enough automatically to trigger a parliamentary discussion under the rules of e-petitions – it didn’t have to send along foreign office minister Alok Sharma, who held up a picture of his golden retriever and said: ‘Our reputation as a nation of animal lovers means we can make a strong case for dogs as pets rather than as food.’
The government’s written response to the petition went further, describing the practice of eating dog meat as ‘cruel and inhumane’ and stating ‘the British Embassy in Seoul has raised the issue of cruelty towards animals on numerous occasions with the South Korean authorities and explained that the UK public and parliamentarians would like to see Korean regulation that would bring the practice to an end’.
Perhaps Mr Sharma would now like to explain what happens if the Pakistan or Israeli ambassadors seek a meeting with the government to discuss how to bring an end to the cruel and inhumane practice of Britain’s pork industry or if the Delhi’s representative in London does the same over Britain’s beef industry.
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