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Actress Joanna Lumley is leading a host of celebrities and MPs in demanding a Brexit ban on foie gras.

Production of the delicacy, made from the livers of ducks and geese which have been cruelly force-fed, is illegal in Britain.

But Brussels rules mean it can still be imported and served in upmarket gastropubs and restaurants, and sold in some of the most expensive grocery stores in the land.

About 200 tonnes comes in from mainland Europe every year - and campaigners want the UK’s withdrawal from the EU to mark an end to the food being sold in Britain.

Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna said: “Foie gras production was banned in the UK because it is so cruel.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

“Why then do we still import tonnes of it every year? This must be banned as soon as possible following our exit from the EU.”

Demanding the UK go “foie gras free”, Downton Abbey’s Peter Egan highlighted the cruel method used to pump up the birds’ livers before they are slaughtered.

“The cruel and horrible way foie gras is produced by literally stuffing a poor duck or goose with grain until its liver becomes diseased and swells to bursting is disgusting to contemplate,” he said.

“We banned its production in the UK because it’s cruel. Now let’s ban the importation of this cruel product.”

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Veteran actor Steven Berkoff, who appeared in James Bond film Octopussy, urged: “We must ban the importation of foie gras to cut off this disgusting and obscene abuse of birds to satisfy this disgusting and obscene decadence.”

A YouGov poll last month showed just 7% of Britons had eaten foie gras in the past year.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Nearly four out of five voters who expressed an opinion backed a ban.

The Animal Equality charity is spearheading the latest battle to outlaw the foodstuff.

Executive director Dr Toni Shephard said: “Leaving the EU gives us a unique opportunity to rid Britain of this extraordinarily cruel product.

“Our national laws rightly declare foie gras production too inhumane to take place on our shores, yet we still allow it to be imported and sold.

“For the sake of the thousands of ducks and geese still suffering on European foie gras farms, this hypocrisy has got to end.”

MPs from across the political divide have already pledged to support moves to strip the UK of the delicacy.

Labour’s Chris Williamson insisted: “We are a nation of animal lovers and have rightly already banned the production of foie gras on our shores because of the extreme suffering it causes to ducks and geese.

“If exiting the EU will provide us the opportunity to ban the importation of this cruel product then the Government should do so.”

Conservative backbencher Henry Smith believed quitting the bloc provided “a real animal welfare opportunity to impose a ban on this cruel practice”.

And Remain-supporting Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said: “We have rightly already banned the production of foie gras in Britain because of the extreme suffering it causes to ducks and geese.

“Exiting the EU gives us the opportunity to ban the importation of this cruel product and make Britain foie gras free. The Government must act now.”