I WOULD like to take this opportunity to thank the hundreds of constituents from across Yorkshire and the Humber who have written to be me about the banning of seal products in the Europe Union (Stop the slaughter, Readers' Letters, August 31).

As a member of the All Party Animal Welfare group in the European Parliament, I am pleased to confirm that I have indeed already signed Written Declaration 38, which calls for a ban on the import, export and sale of all harp and hooded seal products.

Such a ban, if implemented across the whole of the European Union, would be a huge step forward in the protection of these threatened species.

Richard Corbett MEP, Blenheim Terrace, Leeds.