You probably haven’t heard of Jordi Casamitjana before, and neither have I, however, his name popped up in the news this morning, since a panel in Norwich will decide if the practice of abstaining from using animal products can be protected under the Equality Act 2010. For those not in the know, the British Equality Act protects philosophical and religious beliefs from discrimination. For a belief to be protected under the Act, it must meet a series of tests including being worthy of respect in a democratic society, not being incompatible with human dignity and not conflicting with fundamental rights of others.
Dietary vegans and ethical vegans both eat a plant-based diet, but ethical vegans also try to exclude all forms of animal exploitation including not wearing clothing made of wool or leather and not using products tested on animals.
But back to Mr. Casamitjana, an ethical vegan who got dismissed from his job at the League Against Cruel Sports after raising concerns that its pension fund was being invested into companies involved in animal testing. He is making a case that ethical veganism is a philosophy followed by a significant portion of the population not only in the U.K. but around the world. Should the labour tribunal find in his favour, this would raise ethical veganism to a status akin to a religion.
So let’s look at the numbers: According to the latest figures, just 1.16% of the U.K.’s population consider themselves as vegan, that’s less (in percentage terms anyway) than for example the 3% of the population in Switzerland. This raises then the question, how many people need to adhere to a philosophy or lifestyle for it to qualify for protection under the Equality Act 2010? 1.16% out of a U.K. population of some 67.5 million means approximately 783’000 vegans, and if they should be entitled to this protection, how about all the cat and dog owners? Or the drivers of purple cars? In this case, PETA with it’s some 6.5 million members around the world should then be registered as a religion!
Quite frankly, I am all in favour of animal rights etc, but bringing cases like Mr Casamitjana’s helps no one and if anything discredits a worthwhile cause, not to mention it clogs up an already congested legal system.
And since I am as yet unaware of any attacks on vegans (both of the dietary and ethical kind), I hope the tribunal lets common sense prevail and dismisses the case.
The grumpy older man 