The government has announced plans to outlaw a cooking method that is described by charities as "excruciating" and akin to "torture".

08:55, Tue, Dec 23, 2025 Updated: 08:55, Tue, Dec 23, 2025

Cooking Fresh Lobster for Holidays

Cooking live lobsters has been outlawed as part of a crackdown on animal cruelty (Image: Getty)

Boiling live lobsters is set to be banned as part of the government's new animal welfare strategy after the practice was deemed an "unacceptable killing method". New legislation will outlaw the cooking method which has already been banned in Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand, building on a law introduced by the Conservatives in 2022, which stated that invertebrates including crabs and lobsters feel as much pain as other animals. The animal welfare crackdown, announced on Monday, will also require cooks to ensure decapods including shrimp and prawn, alongside octopus and squid, meet a more humane end.

The move has been praised by charities including Crustacean Compassion, whose chief executive Ben Sturgeon said cooking live animals meant imposing "several minutes of excruciating pain" and "completely avoidable ... torture". Some have criticised the long-awaited strategy, however, including David Jarrad, chief executive of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain, who said it will add further costs to businesses and could end the live shellfish trade.

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Tiger Prawns

The new policy will also apply to shrimp and prawns (Image: Getty)

Mr Jarrad told The Telegraph: "Our concern in the UK is that if restaurants and hotels do not wish to buy stunning equipment, which costs around £3,500, they will just import frozen seafood from abroad."

Labour also pledged to ban trail hunting, outlaw hen cages and pig farrowing crates, require humane slaughter for farmed fish and end puppy farming as part of its new strategy.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage slammed the announcement as "authoritarian control freakery". "So now, Labour wants to ban trail hunting," he wrote on X. "You might as well ban walking dogs in the countryside, as they chase rabbits, hares, deer and foxes."

Unveiling the plans, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds declared the UK "a nation of animal lovers" and labelled it "the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation".

A Labour source told The Guardian: "When it comes to being in touch with the priorities of working people, the horse has very much bolted for Nigel Farage. Time and again, he's putting himself on the wrong side of issues which will keep the former Tories he's stuffing his party with happy, but will do nothing to deliver a fairer future for Britain.

"While Farage focuses on defending hunts that are often used as a smokescreen for killing wild animals, Labour is dealing with outdated laws which permit poor animal welfare practices. And at the same time we're cutting the cost of living, reducing waiting lists and delivering the change working people voted for."