In defence of the hunting ban

Fox hunting remains as unpopular as ever with the British public, yet it looks like the Tories may be trying to sneak through a relaxation of the law by a little known us of Parliamentary procedure.  Opinion polls consistently show most people back Labour’s ban on hunting wild animals with dogs, and accept that there is no place for animal cruelty in a civilised society. The last major poll in December 2013, found 80% of the public opposed a return to fox hunting.

Hunting for sport is a barbaric activity that has no place in modern Britain. It took a long battle but the last Labour government finally outlawed this outdated practice in 2004 bringing an end to the hunting of deer, foxes and hares with dogs.

Labour made great achievements for animal welfare in government, in partnership with many of the people and organisation in this room. In Government, Labour had a proud record on animal welfare:  banning hunting with dogs and hare coursing; working with animal welfare charities to pass the Animal Welfare Act, the most comprehensive animal welfare legislation for a century; and banning fur farming.

But it is the hunting ban that has most irked the Conservative Party. Whilst most people are worried about the rising cost of living, there are some in the Conservative Party more interested in bringing back hunting than helping families struggling to make ends meet. Stung by the incredible failure of the badger cull to deliver anything like the results Ministers claimed it would, some are now looking to relaxing the law on hunting.

The 2010 Conservative manifesto stated: The Hunting Act has proved unworkable. The coalition agreement promised a free vote on hunting during the lifetime of this Parliament.  Yet Owen Paterson and other senior Tory hunt supporters admit they would not win an outright vote on scrapping the ban this side of an election. There are some notable members of the Conservative benches who would vote with Labour MPs to keep the ban. Instead, it looks like Ministers are using a piece of secondary legislation to relax the ban so that up to 40 dogs could be used to flush foxes out of scrubland to be shot. The law currently allows two dogs to be deployed to flush out a fox.

In reality, this amendment would make it impossible for the hunting act to be enforced and pose a threat to wildlife as dogs and hunters scramble to chase foxes again. It should come as no surprise that this amendment is being supported by the Countryside Alliance and its never ending mission to overturn the ban.

Supporters of the hunting ban need to start lobbying now and make sure that Conservative MPs understand the depth of feeling about this issue across the country. Excellent groups like the League Against Cruel Sports are already mobilising supporters to get involved. This is not a tidying up amendment or a plan to help farmers. It is about undermining the hunting ban pure and simple. Not content with the debacle of the badger cull, Ministers have foxes in their sights again.

Andrew Pakes is the Labour & Co-operative Parliamentary Candidate for Milton Keynes South