The first of its kind event is set for 6 December 2016

The Vegan Society are excited to announce the formation of the first All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism and Veganism. This venture is in collaboration with Vegetarian for Life and the Vegetarian Society. We are very grateful for their help and support, and are looking forward to working together on our shared aims.

An All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) is a group made up of politicians from all political parties. The APPG on Vegetarianism and Veganism will be a great platform for discussion and learning, with the aim of encouraging legislation change.

This will be a forum for exchanging ideas and concerns relating to vegan and vegetarian issues. Speakers will be present at each of the quarterly meetings, providing an insight to their various expertise. Experts, leaders in their fields and parliamentarians are all welcome to join.

The APPG’s four Officers are parliamentarians with a personal and political interest in the topic. We expect the following parliamentarians to stand as Officers: Labour MPs Christina Rees and Kerry McCarthy, Conservative MP Henry Smith and Green Party Peer, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb.

The first meeting will be on 6 December in the Houses of Parliament. The topic for discussion will be what Brexit means for vegans and vegetarians. Attendees will hear from four specialist speakers, before an opportunity for discussion and questions. We hope that parliamentarians will leave the meeting with action points to work towards.

At this meeting we will hear from Stephen Pugh, EU food labelling specialist, who will speak about the future of guidance for vegetarian and vegan labelling. Also speaking is Jeanette Rowley, Founding Member of the International Vegan Rights Alliance, who will talk about veganism as a protected belief. Finally, Dr Kinesh Patel and Dr Kate Tatham will talk about the labelling of medicines and how this affects vegans and vegetarians.

The APPG on Vegetarianism and Veganism is an important opportunity to get veganism on the political agenda. The first of its kind, we look forward to fostering a good relationship with parliamentarians and working together to influence positive change.

We would like to encourage each and every one of you to contact your MP and ask them to attend the inaugural meeting on 6 December. Find out more at VegAPPG.