Morrissey has been a staunch animal-rights advocate for years, having made his views abundantly clear as far back as on the 1984 Smiths album, Meat Is Murder. Now the vegetarian-turned-vegan is considering a run for mayor of London as part of the Animal Welfare Party. In a new post on his site, True To You, Morrissey shares the party’s invitation, as well as a lengthy statement on his inclination to accept. The singer/activist states that animal welfare groups can no longer wait for “establishment enlightenment,” and instead must seek representation within the government to effect change. While he does make some unmeasured remarks, such as calling Naked Chef Jamie Oliver “a serial animal killer,” and wondering if Oliver would be prepared to serve up his own children for someone else’s supper, he also paints a dire picture of the larger impact of the meat industry.
What makes such people have absolutely no forgiveness towards animals? What hate drives them? 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 number one problem. It is also the number one issue stifled from any political debate, which, if anything, highlights its importance. The slaughterhouse effectively means that none of us are safe. Just investigate the appalling effects of meat production on our climate, environment, fields, forests, lakes, streams, seas, air and space. Your eyes will pop. No bigger global disaster could possibly be devised. Social justice for animals is not much to demand, because we are only asking humans to think rationally and with heart, even if being unable to hunt foxes and shoot birds would leave the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family with nothing else to do.”
Morrissey reportedly needs only 330 signatures to join the ticket, so a mayoral bid is entirely possible, especially as the next five days will see the candidates focusing on green issues, including a list of proposals composed by several of the country’s best-known environmental groups.