The UK could introduce a ban on the sale of animal fur products when Brexit is completed, according to new proposals being drawn up by ministers.
It is understood that the plans are being spearheaded by Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Minister Lord Goldsmith, who is a close friend of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as his fiancée Carrie Symonds, who is a long-time animal rights campaigner.
Ms Symonds said last year that those who seek to buy fur are 'really sick' and said that clothing manufacturers and brands seeking to sell it were 'nuts'.
So, when the UK leaves the EU, they're considering the idea of banning the importation of animal fur in to the country, which would effectively ban the sale of it in shops at the same time.
Fur farming has been banned in Britain since 2003, but the doesn't mean that fur can't be farmed elsewhere and brought into the country from overseas.
France, one of Britain's closest neighbours, is one of the world's biggest fur suppliers.
Goldsmith has argued that Brexit means that "whatever barriers may have prevented us from raising standards on imports at the point of entry will have gone".
Now, in leaked DEFRA documents seen by The Daily Telegraph, it has been discovered that Lord Goldsmith met with the executive director of anti-fur and animal rights organisation Humane Society International on May 12, asking if there is any area of the fur trade and related to it that the government should research.
A DEFRA statement reads: "We have some of the highest welfare standards in the world, and that is both a source of pride and a clear reflection of UK attitudes towards animals.
"Fur farming has rightly been banned in this country for nearly 20 years. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established there will be an opportunity for the government to consider further steps it could take in relation to fur sales.
However, the British Fur Trade Association has said that it will lobby against the plans, which they've labelled as 'irrational, illiberal, and misjudged'.
A report on the BFTA website reads: "Sales of natural fur in the UK have increased in recent years and are popular among younger age groups, as environmentally conscious consumers increasingly reject the mass-produced non-renewables epitomised by the fast fashion crisis and search out long lasting, sustainable natural materials.
"Yet, animal rights groups are now actively and vocally lobbying the British Government for fur sales to be banned in the UK using selective data, arguments and anecdotal evidence."
"Such shrill voices, of course, do not represent the 'silent majority' who do not support such a ban; opinions that should not be 'cancelled' but recognised and respected.
"Those that shout the loudest seldom have the support of the majority or their moral backing.
"Although they would never admit it, such groups would achieve their aims far better by working with the organised fur sector to drive up standards as cooperative models in other sectors have shown."
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