Seized ivory cut in pieces for incineration in Hong Kong (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Theresa May has dropped her party’s pledge to ban the trade of ivory in its General Election manifesto.

In the Tories’ previous manifesto, launched before the 2015 election, David Cameron had promised to enact an outright ban on the buying and selling of ivory in the UK.

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However, any explicit mention of ivory is conspicuously absent from the new manifesto.

In its place May’s manifesto includes a general pledge to help international organisations protect the marine environment and endangered species around the world.


Many took to Twitter to vent their frustrations at the prime minister, saying that she’s ‘basically added dead elephants’ to their pledges.

Theresa's Conservative manifesto scraps the ban on the ivory trade. Basically add dead elephants to the list of Tory pledges. — Jonathan Pryor (@Jonathan_Pryor) May 20, 2017

#Torymanifesto: Legalizing ivory trade, fox hunting and #dementiatax

…and Tories wonder why we call them the nasty party. — Amy (@thisisamy_) May 21, 2017

Only just read about Ivory Ban business in Tory manifesto. Surely it's not true? Is it? No one would actually do this. Would they? — Dan Mallaghan (@DMallaghan) May 21, 2017

Fox Hunting and lifting the ban on Ivory Trade?

The Tories are really spoiling themselves#torymanifesto pic.twitter.com/knUHmpgHyF — Mr Malky (@MrMalky) May 19, 2017

But the dropping of a blanket ivory ban will no doubt be a relief for those in the antiques and fine art industries.

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Many precious artefacts and items of historical importance that are sold in the UK are made of ivory.



Although the objects were made many centuries ago – with the majority having been made between the 11th and 15th centuries – an outright ban would have meant no one could buy or sell them. This could also have potentially affected museum acquisitions.

A pair of 12th century Scandinavian ivory checker pieces (Picture: Getty Images)

Similar to the Tories, the Lib Dems also promised to provide ‘greater resources for international environmental cooperation… on actions to tackle illegal and unsustainable trade in timber, wildlife, ivory and fish’.

But for the first time the Labour Party has pledged to institute a ‘total ban on ivory trading’.