As one of six Green Party councillors who rallied and marched through Brighton and Hove on Saturday in memory of the 900 million-odd animals killed annually in the UK meat and dairy industries, I wanted to express my thanks to the organisers of the March For Farmed Animals 2012, and the police protest liaison officers present.

A few hundred years ago many started to argue that we shouldn’t discriminate against anyone on the basis of their skin colour alone: the struggle against racism and slavery continues to this day.

More recently discrimination based on gender alone became unacceptable to many.

In this tolerant city, we have made bigger strides towards eliminating discrimination based purely on someone’s sexuality than in much of the world: there are, for example, more than 70 countries where homosexuality is still illegal. Some of the most intolerant and barbarous of these nations impose the death penalty for anyone convicted of their “crime”.

I believe the next form of bald discrimination to be tackled will be speciesism.

The widespread support for last weekend’s march and the growing number and popularity of veganism, as well as a great choice of vegan restaurants and cafes in our wonderful city, makes me hopeful that this shift in attitudes might just happen here, in Brighton and Hove, first.

Green Councillor Ben Duncan for Queen’s Park ward, Brighton and Hove City Council