After handing my petition in to Downing Street, I was very eagerly awaiting their response. Unfortunately it was not what I had hoped for. This is a copy of the email I received: Our ref: DWOE417531/AD 6 January 2017 Dear Ms Tavares RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER Thank you for your email and petition to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State about religious slaughter and the labelling of meat from animals slaughtered according to religious rites. Your email has been passed to Defra because we are the Government Department with policy responsibility for the welfare of farmed animals. The Government encourages the highest standards of welfare at slaughter and would prefer to see all animals stunned before they are slaughtered for food. We also respect the rights of the Jewish and Muslim communities to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. Current national regulations on religious slaughter have a long history. The subject was first debated in Parliament in 1875. The Slaughter of Animals Act 1933 introduced a legal requirement for stunning of animals prior to slaughter but contained an exemption where animals were slaughtered for Jews and Muslims. Over the years the national rules governing religious slaughter have developed to provide additional protection for animals slaughtered in accordance with religious rites. The Government has made it clear that there will be no ban on religious slaughter. With regard to meat labelling, the Government is aware that there is public concern about meat from animals slaughtered in accordance with religious beliefs being sold to consumers who do not require their meat to be prepared in this way and that there are calls for such meat to be labelled. There are currently no specific EU or national requirements governing the sale and labelling of Halal or Kosher meat. Where any information of this nature is provided voluntarily, however, it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer. The Government believes that consumers should have the necessary information to enable them to make an informed choice about their food. We are studying the findings of last year’s European Commission report and may take action if this is found to be necessary. I am afraid that your petition cannot be considered for debate in Parliament because it was not submitted via the parliamentary petition website, and also because the identities of the signatories cannot be verified as required by the rules which govern parliamentary petitions. Yours sincerely Anthony Davis Ministerial Contact Unit Defra Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) I had high hopes that if nothing else, they would label it, which would have enabled us to force the issue by not buying it. I do not accept the explanation that they are waiting for the eu to decide on labelling, since we have voted for Brexit. Im sorry for everybody who signed that we didnt get any kind of result.