Cartoonists in the Commons

Protesting outside Parliament

Our Westminster correspondent Glenn Marshall reports:

Last Wednesday we were back in the House of Commons with our friends at WDC (Whale & Dolphin Conservation) supporting their campaign to the ‘Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act’ which had previously been passed with large cross-party support in 2023 but has not yet brought into law. The Act aims to prohibit the sale and promotion of tourist activities abroad where animals are kept or treated in ways that would be illegal in the UK. These include things like drugging big cats for tourists to take selfies with, rides on ill-treated animals and animals being cruelly trained to preform eg. dolphins, orcas, dancing bears.

We had a pop-up exhibition of related cartoons by PCO members and were also drawing at the event. Special mention to Chris Burke (who was very popular caricaturing the attending MPs), Royston Robertson, Clive Goddard and The Surreal McCoy….I just ate the canapés.

Labour MP for Derby South Baggy Shanker with The Right Honourable Chris Burke MP (Masterful Portraitist)

Cartoon © Jeremy Banx

Clive Goddard waving his cartoon order paper

Cartoons © Rupert Besley & Ewan McLeish

Royston Robertson doing a bit of digital doodling.

Other charities involved on the day were Born Free Foundation, Peta, Save Asian Elephants, Marine Connection & World Animal Protection

Cartoons © Graeme Bandeira & The Surreal McCoy

Something I often tell myself.

The exhibition displayed fewer cartoons than we’d hoped for, but we are in talks to put on a larger show at Herne Bay Cartoon Festival later in the year. We previously followed up for our first Parliament campaign with WDC at Beach Creative two years ago.