On May 13th 2019 Morrissey appeared on The Tonight Show hosted by Jimmy Fallon. His band wore Animal Liberation t-shirts from animal rights organisation Total Liberation New York, but the press noticed a tiny For Britain pin badge.
https://sdscreenprinting.net/2019/05/18/the-tonight-show-with-jimmy-fallon/amp/
For Britain is a far right political party run by Anne Marie Waters, a gay, Irish, vegan, feminist who insists the party is centre right & that she had to leave the left-wing Labour Party because she was falsely accused of racism.
She was heavily pushing women’s rights and animal rights on her social media and had recently promoted a radical set of animal welfare policies.
Morrissey is obsessively opposed to animal slaughter and had been falsely accused of racism since the NME published a homophobic hit piece in 1992.
The meat industry, after all, shows no compassion towards the planet, towards climate change, towards animals, towards
human health. It is diabolically contrived and is the world’s No 1 problem. It is also the No 1 issue stifled from any political debate, which, if anything, highlights its importance. (Morrissey, True-to-You, 2016)
https://folk-devil.com/2021/09/05/sexually-ambiguous/
The NME rehashed the article in 2007 this time distorting some comments he made about London’s rapid gentrification to make him appear anti-immigration.
This is not the first time that Morrissey has trod clumsily into the area of immigration… On August 22nd 1992, NME’s cover featured an image of Morrissey prancing around onstage at Finsbury Park with a Union Jack flag… (Tim Jonze, NME, December 2007)
This scandal – and the relentless repetition of out of context words and phrases – subspecies, subspecies, subspecies – meant that his concerns about animals were dismissed as a cover for fascism.
He dropped Anne Marie almost immediately but the ferocious backlash – oiled by decades of homophobia – is still raging.
for every shade and persuasion… we shall always be alongside each other – everyone’s culture of value; no more fashionable outrage; cows are friends to humans – don’t kill them… (Morrissey, Central, May 2019)
I am not an activist, I have never voted for a political party, I do not belong to any political party… I do not believe the most important thing about a person is the colour of their skin. (Morrissey, Kipper Central, June 2019)
Side Note: transcript, Animal Welfare, Anne Marie Waters, Alt News Media, January 2019:
Mahatma Gandhi once said that the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Britain has a long and proud tradition of kindness and respect towards animals, it was part of our greatness, but like this greatness generally, our kindness to animals is rapidly disappearing. For Britain intends to bring it back.
For Britain proposes a unique and comprehensive package of proposals to reform animal welfare in our country, and we know that we have widespread public support. Britain cares about animals, and so do we.
There is growing public disquiet for example about the terrible and unnecessarily cruel religious slaughter of farm animals, and we at For Britain demand that this is brought to an end. The law requires that animals are stunned to unconsciousness prior to slaughter, however an EU imposed religious exemption is in place – allowing both halal and kosher un-stunned slaughter to continue. This renders the law entirely meaningless. Why create a law to protect animals and then provide the very people who want to flout that law with an exemption? It makes no sense. It is political trickery.
For Britain will ban ALL un-stunned slaughter of animals without exception. We will remove the religious exemption and give the law its teeth. This is not a matter of religious oppression but of the protection of animals from unnecessary suffering. Animal welfare trumps religious belief.
Furthermore, we will take action to punish those guilty of the abuse and neglect of animals. Those found to be engaged in dog-fighting for example will be jailed or deported. There will be zero tolerance of cruelty.
We will end the experimentation on animals for cosmetics or commercial products, and severely restrict and regulate any medical testing until this can be phased out altogether.
We will transform dairy farming and end factory farming. We will incentivize farmers to return to organic and natural farming where cattle will roam freely and have access to their calves. We will also end the abhorrent practice of veal production. We will ban live exports and ensure that egg-laying hens roam freely and the caging of hens is brought to an end.
Animals are not items or objects, they are living sentient creatures who exhibit complex emotions and social practices. Animals clearly feel fear, joy, and attachment to each other. They are however entirely defenceless against human beings. The question therefore must be asked: how do we treat the defenceless? Do we act with mercy, or are we merciless? The answer determines who we are as people, and it’s an answer we should consider very carefully.
Folk Devil 