From an animal rights perspective an independent Britain is worrying

As the pound plummets, billions are wiped off the stock market, the PM resigns, the political parties are in disarray, Scotland looks to leave the UK, and Europe itself looks set to crumble, to many it might seem trivial to say “What about the animals?” But not to me, not to us.

So what has Europe done for our animals? The EU has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and these are a few of its achievements over the last few years –

• In 2012 it banned battery caged hens and in 2013 sow stalls that cruelly restricted movement, both identified as the worst excesses of factory farming. Millions of farmed animals got a better quality of life
• Farming subsidies from the EU enable farmers to uphold higher welfare standards and provide protections for the environment