The news surfaced as a result of a leaked e-mail sent to the Viva animal rights and vegetarian organisation, which proposed a vegan diet that bans meat, milk, dairy products and fish. It has been reported that an official at the Environment Agency, which is a governmental advisory body, sent the e-mail.
The changeover would have to be made "gently," the document suggests, because otherwise the British public will not accept it.
Viva director Juliet Gellatley said: "For our planet's sake there is an urgent need to move away from a meat and dairy-obsessed Western diet."
But Anthony Gibson of the National Farmers’ Union described the idea as "simplistic and flawed".
