Calls on the Swedish government to scrap the ban on halal and kosher slaughter have been gaining momentum. In the latest attempt four Christian Swedes have written an opinion piece in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper arguing for the tolerance of Muslim and Jewish rites.

They write that the rest of Europe ended this discrimination after the end of the second world war, but in Sweden the ban remains for animal welfare reasons, which complicates life for Jews and Muslims.

The writers think that parliament members know what needs to be done to combine religious slaughter with the modern requirement of animal welfare.

"We know that kosher and halal slaughter are significantly less painful than the culturally cherished Swedish slaughter of grouse, elk and crayfish.