Britan slams whaling industry
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown lashed the "unacceptably cruel" whaling industry Friday, hours after Japan said it was dropping plans to hunt humpback whales.
The UK Government opposes all whaling apart from limited aboriginal subsistence whaling. We strongly support the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling," he wrote in a new pamphlet on whaling.
"The moratorium is essential because many whale populations have not recovered from past over-exploitation and now face other serious threats, including pollution and climate change."
And Brown said: "Whaling is unacceptably cruel and is economically unnecessary."
The comments came after Japan announced it was dropping plans to start hunting humpback whales for the first time in four decades, afterhttp://newstool.iol.co.za/news_tool/inlist2.php3 protests led by Australia seeking to spare the mammals.
It is the first time Tokyo has backed down over the whaling expeditions, which have been a longstanding strain in relations with its Western allies.
