Cumbria’s campaigning vicar has called for Labour’s new shadow environment secretary to resign after her controversial comments about meat. 

Chris Blackshaw, Agricultural Chaplain for Cumbria, says he is so “astounded” by Kerry McCarthy’s calls for a campaign to stop people eating meat, that he wrote a stinging letter to the new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

And, to back this up, the outraged vicar has also launched an online petition calling for her resignation. In just three days it has captured almost 500 signatures from around the world.

In his letter Mr Blackshaw, of Kirkoswald, described the comments as “highly irresponsible, harmful and hav[ing] a propensity to have far reaching implications”.

He wrote: “I support farmers who have massive debts, with some who are unable to pay their bills.

“In some cases they have re-financed machinery and buildings, which has
sometimes been through undesirable lenders, as banks are unwilling to support them. There are even some who are suicidal.”

“Comments of this nature give the farming industry no faith or belief in her ability to support farmers and to represent their best interests,” said Mr Blackshaw, when interviewed by Farmer. Miss McCarthy, the Labour MP for Bristol East, made the controversial comments in which she likened meat eating to smoking – in an interview with Viva Life magazine, published earlier this year.

A Vegan Society patron and outspoken critic of livestock farming, Miss McCarthy was put in charge of farming and agriculture policy in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

“By making these comments she has already compromised herself by allowing her personal preferences and choices to influence the comments she makes in her public role,” said Mr Blackshaw, in his letter. 

“I suggest that already massive damage has been done by her comments and certainly all credibility – in the eyes of not only farmers, but the general public – has been lost, and I personally call for her resignation from her post.”

Among the comments posted on the petition are: Pat Kimpton, New Zealand: “She is damaging to the British farming industry, and the farming future needs someone to promote us as farmers, not someone who intends to bring us down and ruin the industry for future generations.”

Heather Airey, Steeton: “Her stance on farming speaks for itself! Get her gone.”

Lewis Barlow, Billington: “I rely on the farming industry for my income and she would gravely impact the industry and she would fail to provide the necessary support.” Michael Shadrick, Bradworthy: “I make my living as a dairy farmer and if this crank ever has any influence God help us.”

Mr Blackshaw has vowed to carry on his campaign.

In the interview with Viva , Miss McCarthy, a vice-president of the League Against Cruel Sports, offers little sympathy for the plight of dairy farmers, who have been producing milk at below the cost of production. “It’s a supply and demand thing. Far too much milk is being produced and if you live by the market you have to risk dying by the market,” she said.

She also said the environmental impact of livestock farming was making her become “more militant”, not least because CAP payments were available for grouse shooting, controlling buzzards and forestry. But Mr Blackshaw, who supported the farmers during the protests in the summer over the low milk price, retorted in his letter: “The agricultural industry is a volatile marketplace, and comments like Miss McCarthy’s can cause massive damage to prices and the stability of that market.”