Banning foie gras and fur was never really about animal suffering

Well, too bad Carrie and Zac. It looks like the government is going to drop its commitment to banning imports of foie gras and fur.

A combination of Jacob Rees-Mogg objecting to the foie gras ban on the grounds of consumer choice and Ben Wallace, Defence Minister, agitating for the Guards to continue to have their bearskin hats, seems to have seen that off.

Issues such as these are interesting in that they combine otherwise incompatible groups and individuals in opposition. In Tory terms, the kind of people who campaign about foie gras and fur tend to be posh Tories – it was no accident that Zac Goldsmith first promised the ban – who regard animal welfare issues as part of their stewardship of the environment, which in turn derives from land ownership.

It’s a benign form of paternalism, extended to brute creation. It’s also the kind of social activism that often calls for a bit of background abroad, the way that Prince William’s vigorous campaigning against the ivory trade is a product of his family’s association with Africa, on account of the Empire.