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  Sorry for the "cut and paste" Howard, but I think the gist of what you are asking is all there. Hope Keith doesn`t mind me attempting to answer this for you on his behalf. This is a response from Nigel Farrage.
  
  
  "I am used to Lefties moaning at me but to but to be attacked by groups who want the live export of animals to be banned was just bizarre. I can only assume it's because we don't sign up to meaningless Parliamentary resolutions or support EU legislation because we are elected on the basis of opposing EU controls over our lives.
  
  The reason I was somewhat puzzled is because Ukip is the only party which has a policy demanding a ban on live animal exports. The transport of farm animals to and from markets for slaughter and particularly on journeys abroad is something which is emotive and the public are deeply concerned about.
  
  Almost all animals will be transported at some point in their lives, whether it is to travel to different areas of the country where the conditions are better as the seasons change, or to markets and to slaughter. If animal welfare is not a priority during transportation then animals will suffer unnecessarily.
  
  My colleague Stuart Agnew, himself a farmer, has tried to make points to MEPs drafting documents but his words fall on deaf ears. In a response to an e-petition opposing the live transport of farmed animals, Defra responded: "The government would prefer to see the export of meat or germ plasma rather than livestock...However the export of livestock for slaughter within the EU is a legal trade. "To ban it, either directly by indirect means, would be illegal and would undermine the Treaty."
  
  So to all those people who were protesting or thought that it was a jolly good thing that they tried to stop free and fair debate: think again. Have a look at the facts and realise that the party you are attacking - physically in the case of one man - is the only party which can bring about the changes you desire. I tend to find that people who have decided they are set against a certain political party or group cannot be persuaded that they have been barking up the wrong tree.
  
  But even the action group in Kent who had members attending the protest have written to me to apologise and distance themselves from the actions on Monday."

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