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Now Brown declares class war on hunting
Independent 26th December 2009
New campaign highlights Cameron's pursuit of 'barbaric' sport
Tory candidates have apparently been advised to ask their constituents' views before voting on whether to keep the hunting ban
Labour will today launch a hard-hitting campaign against David Cameron's proposal to repeal the ban on hunting with dogs. The move will be seen as an extension of its "class war" against the Conservatives. Ministers will point to Mr Cameron's record of supporting fox-hunting and condemn his proposal to give MPs the chance to overturn the Hunting Act if he becomes Prime Minister.
Writing in The Independent today, the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn says: "Quite why this is something that would be a priority for a Tory government, instead of the economy or tackling other concerns, is hard to explain to the public and [the Conservatives] have failed to do so."
Last night, Mr Benn explained: "David Cameron used to hunt foxes. He talked about fox-hunting in his first speech to Parliament, and he has said that if he becomes Prime Minister he will get rid of the fox-hunting ban.
"But like the vast majority of people, I think the barbaric act of letting dogs tear foxes to pieces should not return to our countryside. If you think the Tories have changed, their views on fox-hunting with dogs make it absolutely clear that their priorities haven't."
Supporters of hunting will be out in force today – traditionally a big day in the hunting calendar – to press for the repeal of the Act. But Labour's decision to launch the "back the ban" campaign makes clear that the party will make hunting an issue at next year's general election. Although Mr Benn insists hunting is not a "class issue", the move follows Gordon Brown's attack on Mr Cameron's plans to cut inheritance tax, which he said were "dreamed up on the playing fields of Eton".
One senior Labour source said: "We are not saying hunting will be the centrepiece of our election campaign. But it is an issue that concerns many people and it says something about the Conservatives. They say 'we are all in it together' but their policies, whether on inheritance tax or hunting, show that under a Cameron government there would be one rule for their friends and another for the rest of us."
When Labour's focus groups remind voters of the Tories' stance on hunting, many people are said to reply: "I guess they haven't changed." People are surprised that Mr Cameron wants to overturn the ban, and Labour believes the policy undermines his claim to have modernised the Conservative Party.
However, some Blairites are wary of Labour's "class war" attacks, which they fear will undermine the party's support among the aspirational middle classes and give the impression that Labour is appealing to its "core vote" in the hope of denying Mr Cameron an overall majority.
A "Tory toffs" campaign in last year's Crewe and Nantwich by-election backfired on Labour, but Brown allies insist that the new drive is legitimate because it is linked to Tory policies, not personalities.
The "back the ban" campaign will be endorsed today by the television presenter Tony Robinson and actors Patrick Stewart and Jenny Seagrove. Its survey of parliamentary candidates found that 84 per cent of Tories who responded did not support prohibition of hunting with dogs, but 98 per cent of Labour candidates did.
The emotive campaign will challenge Tory parliamentary candidates to make public their positions on hunting. Labour activists and hunting opponents will be told: "Find out what your MP and candidates think about allowing foxes to be ripped apart by the teeth of hounds."
Amid signs that the Tories are playing down the issue, their candidates are said to have been advised not to state their view on hunting but to promise to consult their constituents before deciding how to vote. The Tory manifesto will promise a free vote on a government rather than a private member's Bill, a move which guarantees parliamentary time and would make it harder for opponents to block. If the Tories win an overall majority, the Commons is expected to overturn the ban.
The 2004 Act made the hunting of all wild mammals using dogs an offence and banned hare coursing, but did not stop people from riding with their dogs if they remain within the law. The Tories insist the Act is ineffective and unworkable. They say there have been few successful prosecutions and that such a bad law should be repealed.
In February Mr Cameron said: "My personal view has always been the ban doesn't work, it doesn't make sense. It's an area of life that I don't think the law ought to go into. It doesn't seem to have worked in any way."
*The Charity Commission has banned a "keep cruelty history" newspaper advertisement planned by the League Against Cruel Sports, which opposes the repeal of the Act.
According to Whitehall sources, the commission ruled that the advertisement – which highlighted the words "cruel Tory" in blue type – would have breached charity rules that ban party political campaigns.
Hunting ban What impact has it had?
*Despite the ban, more than 300 hunts are expected to meet today, on the biggest day in the hunters' calendar.
*The law permits them to chase their quarry across country, provided the hunt does not end with a fox being torn to pieces by hounds. Any form of hunting with dogs, including hare-coursing and deer stalking, was banned under the 2004 Hunting Act. The Conservatives have promised that if they will next year's general election, they will give MPs a free vote on whether to repeal the Act.
*The RSPCA has released figures which, it says, show that the Hunting Act has proved to be an effective piece of legislation. There have been more prosecutions under the Act than under similar legislation on animal welfare, and more than three-quarters of the prosecutions have been successful. Last week, the European Court of Human Rights rejected a claim that the Act was a breach of human rights.
*But research carried out by the Countryside Alliance shows that 57 per cent of the public believe that the Act is a failure, and nearly half think that a new government should either repeal it or give Parliament a free vote on whether to keep it.
David Cameron's friends and family call for fox-hunting ban to be overturned
Mirror 27/12/09
David Cameron's closest friends and relatives yesterday spearheaded a campaign to overturn the ban on cruel fox-hunting.
William Astor, stepfather of the Tory leader's wife Samantha, and his close friend and fellow MP Ed Vaizey called for hunting to be legalised immediately if the Tories win the next General Election.
Viscount A s t o r, chairman of the Old Berkshire Hunt, and Wantage MP Mr Vaizey demanded the repeal of the ban at yesterday's Boxing Day hunt at Faringdon, near Mr Cameron's country home in Oxfordshire.
Their calls to axe the Labour-introduced ban on hunting with hounds are supported by Conservative Party headquarters.
Mr Cameron says he believes the ban "doesn't work" and "doesn't make sense".
Cameron's Passion
from website of Paul Flynn MP.
A ‘Back the Ban’ campaign is being launched on Boxing Day – the old centre of the fox hunting calendar - by Hilary Benn and a host of celebrities including Tony Robinson and Patrick Stewart.
This Boxing Day is the fifth since the Bill to ban hunting with dogs was passed. The ban has already resulted in dozens of prosecutions. None of the forecast dire effects on rural communities has happened
But the Hunting Act is under threat as pro-hunt activists prepare to spend thousands of pounds in backing Tory candidates committed to bringing back the cruel sport.
The Tory’s animal welfare spokesperson has made it clear that if elected they will bring back hunting with dogs. And they have said they will do it soon after being elected if they win the General Election.
The Tory stance is in spite of both overwhelming public support for the ban and the many other priorities of the British public. According to a recent Ipsos Mori poll, three quarters of the population do not want hunting with dogs to be made legal again. The same poll showed that 72% of the rural population wants to keep the ban in place. I have told my local press:
For David Cameron, getting the Act repealed is a top priority. He used to hunt, until his PR advisers told him not to; he talked about hunting in his first ever speech to Parliament; and he has said that if he becomes Prime Minister he will get rid of the hunting ban as soon as possible.
Like the vast majority of people in Newport I think that barbaric act of letting dogs tear foxes to pieces with their teeth shouldn’t return to our countryside.
Hilary Benn, Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said:
“If you think the Tories have changed, their views on fox hunting with dogs make it absolutely clear that their priorities haven’t. They know the public doesn’t agree with them on this, but they are determined to go ahead if they are given the chance. That’s why we need to continue to campaign to stop this barbaric ‘sport’ from returning to our land and to join www.backtheban.com “.
1. David Cameron’s maiden speech is Hansard, 28 June 2001, Col. 869:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010628/debtext/10628-30.htm
2. For more information on the Ipsos Mori poll published 5 October 2009
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=2479
Hunt supporters in new clash with Tories over repeal of ban
Telegraph
10th October 2009
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Countryside campaigners have warned of a “firestorm” if the Conservatives fail to force through a flagship government bill to overthrow the controversial ban.
They fear that David Cameron is close to reneging on a promise he made last year to throw the full weight of a future Tory Government behind the repeal the Hunting Act which makes it illegal to hunt with dogs.
Senior Tory figures have told The Sunday Telegraph that the major change in party policy is under active consideration by the shadow cabinet. They fear that a new Conservative government could find itself bogged down in parliament if it tried to force through the legislation.
But the suggestion of a change in policy has caused deep concern among countryside and hunting campaigners.
One leading hunt supporter said: “There will be a firestorm if it is not a government bill.”
Hunt supporters have been pouring into marginal seats to help Conservative candidates campaign. Many could withdraw their support if they do not believe the Conservative leader is fully committed to a bill that will work.
When an aide of Mr Cameron hinted to journalists last year that hunting would not be a priority, several major donors threatened to withdraw millions of pounds of party funding.
The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the shadow cabinet is considering using a private member’s bill instead of a government bill, to overthrow the ban.
Campaigners fear that the bill could be vulnerable to wrecking amendments from anti-hunt campaigners and could run out of time.
The shadow cabinet member in charge of hunting last night confirmed that the party was considering the move. Nick Herbert, the shadow environment secretary, said: “We are working up various options about how we will do repeal.
“We will give time for a vote on repeal but we have also said we don’t intend to waste parliamentary time on this. We haven’t said what form repeal would take in terms of a bill.”
He added: “I’m aware of the distinction between a private member’s bill and a government bill but I don’t think it is sensible to rule out options.”
Mr Herbert said it was unlikely that the manifesto would spell out how the bill would be piloted and would simply repeat the pledge to offer MPs “a free vote”.
One frontbencher involved in negotiations over planned Tory legislation said: “It’s better if this is a private member’s bill.” The senior MP said the party might also take hare coursing out of the repeal bill so that the practice of chasing a hare with dogs purely for sport, which is seen as more controversial than foxhunting, remained illegal.
Dropping a Government bill would break a promise Mr Cameron made in February last year. He said: “We have a very clear position on this. There will be a free vote, and if there is a vote to repeal the hunting ban there will be a government bill in government time,” he said.
A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said: “The commitment to a free vote has been clear since the last Conservative manifesto and David Cameron himself has talked about that leading to a government bill in government time. We think this is the most open and sensible route for getting rid of what everyone accepts is a ridiculously bad piece of legislation and any other option is likely only to complicate what should be a straightforward process.”
Don't break the pledge on hunting
Telegraph
11th October 2009
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David Cameron appears to be toying with the idea of reneging on his promise to introduce as a Government Bill a measure repealing the Hunting Act, which makes it an offence to go hunting with dogs. We can understand the arguments in favour of that move: the country faces a terrible fiscal crisis that must be the government's first priority; there is a desperate need to unstitch incompetent or mistaken Labour policies on vital matters such as defence, health, and the welfare system; and the Cameron team is desperate to avoid giving ammunition to those who label its members "Tory toffs".
Yet to listen to these siren voices would be a grievous error. It is not just that the Hunting Act was a thoroughly bad measure, motivated by class envy, which has proved utterly unworkable in practice. It is not even because those living in the country are strongly against the measure, which they rightly regard as a symbol of the neglect of and hostility towards the countryside prevalent on the Labour benches (overwhelmingly populated by urbanites). It is that the ban is one of the most egregious examples of Labour's authoritarian determination to prevent ordinary people from living their lives in the ways they choose.
For the Tory leadership to break its pledge would send a signal that the new administration was happy to live with a far greater degree of meddling in the private lives of ordinary citizens than millions of us find tolerable. Indeed, it will be in the hope of electing a more tolerant, less restrictive government that many people will vote Conservative at the next election. They will feel profoundly let down if the hunting ban is consigned to the lottery of the private members' ballot. Mr Cameron should keep his promise to have a Government Bill in Government time.
A case of the unspeakable in pursuit of the doubtful
The Independent
11th October 2009
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Small wet noses poke expectantly from identical rows of circular holes in the side of an oversized lorry parked in the middle of a field in the Surrey countryside. From deeper inside the lorry come the neighing of horses and the high-pitched chatter of their owners.
At the sound of the lorry opening, my heart sinks. In moments, a pack of dogs and ranks of thoroughbred horses (with even more thoroughbred owners) emerge to take part in a sport that divides Britain.
Tweed-clad people all around me continue as if nothing has happened, but my stomach clenches. Only one thing frightens me more than dogs, and that is the horses they accompany. The combination is nothing short of hell. No doubt their owners consider all these stamping hooves and wagging tails mere exuberance. But my worst fears are realised as slavering hounds begin to rub against my legs and an angry mare kicks out dangerously near my head.
It is the first day of Newcomers' Week, a recruitment drive by the Countryside Alliance to get more people on side with the scarlet-coated pursuit. At the Surrey Union hunt, in a field not far from Guildford, there is an atmosphere of excitement: the expectation of a brave new world.
Last week was a good week for hunting. On Tuesday, to the delight of the party faithful, David Cameron dubbed the 2004 Hunting Act which banned the killing of foxes by hounds "a farce", and announced he would be holding a free vote in the Commons to repeal it. He even admitted to a crime more heinous than puffing a joint as a teenager: he has indulged in the national sport of toffs. "I have taken part in a number of rural sports, including hunting," he confessed to the Today programme, adding with a stammer, "but not for several years." Before he had had the chance to explain he hadn't inhaled, the damage had been done.
Nigel Morland shares none of Mr Cameron's discomfort with country pursuits. In a tweed jacket, checked shirt and a yellow tie covered in cartoon foxes and hounds, the 54-year-old accountant is the perfect caricature of the gent who rides to hounds. He cuts the sort of figure you can imagine pinned to the dartboards of animal rights campaigners.
"It's great news that there could be a vote," he says, in a voice so loud I have to retreat six feet. "I just think the current ban is rather stupid."
He is one of about 70 riders who gather in Surrey. The bumf from the alliance promises "thousands of people" will be going to meets around the country to try hunting for the first time this week. Plainly they're congregating elsewhere. At our conclave, only 10 or so of the people on horseback are not regulars.
Chantelle Evans, 19, is one of the genuine newcomers and a public relations dream for the hunt. For a start, she is the only person who is not white. The bonus is she is also not from the generations of privilege that have made the sport so hated. She works as a groom in her local stables near Reigate and has come with her mum, Julie, who is a carer for the elderly.
Putting on a velvet-trimmed riding cap, she says: "I've never hunted before, but that's partly because until recently I didn't have a horse." In answer to questions about the way hunting is perceived, or the problems people might have with it, she is shy, simply saying she is "excited about going along for the first time".
Penny Wilson is master of the hunt for the day. "There's no fox today," she says. "The farmers get the foxes and shoot them; then the entrails are put into a bag that we call a jollop, which we drag along for scent." Noting my grimace at the carnage in this supposedly "animal-friendly" hunting, she adds, a mite huffily, "It's perfectly legal: we're allowed to shoot them but we're not allowed to hunt them."
Charlie Thomas from Berkshire is the first whipper-in. "I make sure all the hounds are in line," the 27-year-old explains, calming his horse. The hunt is ready. A blast of the horn is swiftly followed by the thunder of hooves and the chase is on. They gallop past plane trees, the unspeakable in pursuit of the invisible.
Even some of the participants agree that the lack of live prey is a good thing. Debbie Wanbon, with two of her three children taking part in yesterday's hunt, says, "I have great reservations about chasing a fox. I only take part because now it's a scent. I'm happy for it to be as it is. People seem to enjoy it, so why take the law backwards?"
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