The Ayaan Institute, an independent think tank, has launched a “Stop Hate Against Halal” campaign in response to a far-right propaganda push to demonise halal meat and fuel anti-Muslim hatred — aiming to dismantle the conspiracy theories behind calls to ban it, including those made by Restore Britain MP Rupert Lowe.
Ayaan says that in recent months, white nationalists and anti-Muslim activists have been running a propaganda campaign against the halal meat and food industry based on myths and conspiracy theories.
Rupert Lowe MP has even called for a ban on halal meat altogether, and much of the anti-Muslim hate narrative against halal meat rests on the belief that banning halal meat would force a large number of Muslims to leave Britain.
The false argument is that the majority of halal meat comes from non-stunned slaughter and is therefore more cruel. In fact, 88% of halal meat is from stunned animals.
The halal meat and food industry forms a significant part of the British economy, with many people employed in it (both Muslims and non-Muslims).
Ayaan Institute’s research estimates that UK halal meat contributes £1.7 billion annually to the British economy, and the wider halal products and food market is worth £4.5 billion+.
Muslim halal meat consumers account for 30% of UK lamb consumption, and the farming industry would be affected without this demand. Ayaan estimates the halal industry employs between 55,000 and 80,000 people.
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Jahangir Mohammed, Director of the Ayaan Institute, stated: “The research is summarised in three visual posters. We urge Muslim communities to share, use them against anti-halal narratives, and ask shopkeepers to display them.”
Far-right and anti-halal
In a parliamentary debate in June 2025, Rupert Lowe, leader of Restore Britain, clashed with Muslim MPs over calls to ban the slaughter of animals without prior stunning.
The debate followed a parliamentary petition calling for a ban on non-stun slaughter in the U.K., which garnered 109,018 signatures. The petition stated: “We believe non-stun slaughter is barbaric and doesn’t fit in with our culture and modern-day values and should be banned, as some EU nations have done.”
According to Islamic teaching, an animal must be killed with a single cut to the throat, with certain Islamic scholarly bodies deeming the stunning of an animal before slaughter to be contrary to Islamic ritual.
The Halal Monitoring Committee, a charity which inspects and certifies halal products, says that some scholars believe stunning causes suffering and increases the likelihood of an animal dying before its throat is cut.
Anti-halal campaigns have been hijacked and weaponised by Islamophobic and far-right individuals, fuelling conspiracy theories rooted in the Great Replacement narrative — the claim that Muslims are seeking to replace the people and culture of the U.K.
