I don't really see any issue in principle with Muslims and Jews having access to halal and kosher meat. In the past it has been sold by specialist butchers and now, certainly where i live anyway, you can buy it in supermarkets. That all seems fine to me and I don't see why it would be a problem for anyone (well all right, maybe vegetarians but that's an entirely separate argument!). Where it is becoming a difficulty, however, is when eateries that are part of large chains such as Subway, Pizza Hut and Nandos have arbitrarily moved to a policy of "Halal only" in areas with a reasonably big (not the majority by any stretch of the imagination by the way) Muslim population. Before anyone cries "bullshit" I should point out that this is happening where i live and i cannot imagine my little town is the only one in the whole of the UK where this happens. For me it is completely unacceptable - not because I have any issue with them selling halal meat if they want to but, rather, because it ekiminates freedom of choice for those who don't want to eat it and also blocks access to significant markets for any butcher who is not Islamic. Stretching it further, it could be suggested that moves such as these have absolutely nothing to do with religion and culture and everything to do with a specific group wanting to gain control of the food chain. To me that cannot be right.
