Green Party MEPs rated best for animal rights voting record
Both Caroline Lucas (Green MEP for the South East) and Jean Lambert (Green MEP for London) received a score of +15 (only matched by Plaid Cymru’s Jill Evans).
The analysis was based on recent votes on a new EU law on animal experiments. The votes took place recently (on 5 May 2009), and there were 15 votes taken into account for the analysis.
The Conservative Party scored the worst, with a score of -13.07.
UKIP was 2nd worst amongst political parties from England and Wales, at +1.38.
Labour MEPs scored +7.95, whilst Liberal Democrat MEPs averaged to +3.55.
The analysis cites Caroline Lucas as having “been especially active for animals and helps to table pro-animal laws. The Green group is now an influential force in the European Parliament, and UK Greens can rally their colleagues to help make a major difference for animals.”
It also notes that the Euro-manifestos for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives do not mention animal protection as an issue at all.
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The Green Party, like all politicians, actually say little about animal rights and, instead, focus on issues like ‘protection’ and ‘welfare’. PAD (Protecting Animals in Democracy) note that the Greens are the only party to recognise the concept of animal rights – but it appears to be a shallow, indirect, Kantian recognition at best, suggesting that human dignity is harmed if people are not respectful of nonhuman animal interests.
Although a law professor, animal rights philosopher Gary Francione states that it is far too early to think about a legal route to animal rights. Before the moral rights of nonhuman animals are codified into law, fundamental ~cultural~ change is needed, particularly a shift in the property status of nonhuman animals. Ultimately politicians are interested in claiming they will regulate animal use. I do not see any Green Party spokesperson acknowledging that nonhuman animals are rights bearers or speaking about nonhuman animal rights violations, the language of rights-based animal advocacy.
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