This article was originally published in the Yorkshire Post 

With war raging in the Middle East, Britons’ bills soaring, and his approval ratings at rock bottom, one might be tempted to think that the Prime Minister has more pressing issues than pursuing a ban on trail hunting. And yet that is exactly what, earlier this week (26 March), he has chosen to do.

Sir Keir Starmer’s judgment has repeatedly been questioned, but his pursuit of a ban on trail hunting ranks up there among his most serious mistakes.

Tony Blair himself admitted that the original hunting ban was one of his biggest regrets. 700 hours of parliamentary time were wasted debating it. One might think that Starmer would learn from this lesson. It is not as if the Prime Minister has not been warned of repeating Blair’s mistake.

Earlier this year, Labour peer Baroness Hunter of Auchenreoch, a former political advisor of Tony Blair, stressed that a trail hunting ban should not be a priority for the government, saying:

“What plans do the Government have in these considerations to avoid being distracted from their priorities, and not repeating Sir Tony Blair’s admission, despite my best efforts, of being insensitive to countryside interests?”

Just last week (18 March), he was again urged by senior Labour voices not to make the same mistake as his predecessor.

Baroness Hoey (Labour), castigated the government for the proposals, stating:

“What is the justification for this when so few people have been prosecuted for illegal hunting? If a couple of Peers behave badly, we get rid of them; we do not get rid of the whole House of Lords—surely she (the Minister) should look at that example.”

Baroness Mallalieu (Labour) was equally scathing, saying that:

“a ban on trail hunting will be seen as a punch in the stomach by people who have already endured a considerable amount of distress as a result of other government policies”.

Her point is particularly salient. The government has repeatedly been accused of waging a “war on the countryside” with disastrous policies such as the Family Farm Tax, ill-thought through proposals to restrict shotgun ownership and threats to introduce licensing for game shooting. Why on earth would they want to pour yet more fuel on this already raging bonfire?

It is not as if this continued assault on rural communities will not have impacts on the Parliamentary Labour Party, either. More than 100 of Labour’s MPs hold rural or semi-rural seats, many of them with particularly small majorities. The government have already faced revolts from that number, most notably when members of the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG) refused to support the Family Farm Tax.

Taking all this into consideration, one really does wonder why the government thinks that its proposed trail hunting ban is a good idea.

It has the potential to cause immense damage to the rural communities - trail hunting contributes £100m to the rural economy every year, contributing to local economies, sustaining rural employment and supporting a wide network of small businesses - from farriers and feed merchants to country pubs and suppliers - across hundreds of constituencies. Just the other weekend I was at a point-to-point (all of which rely on trail hunting and its community) – every shop owner I spoke to there stated that a trail hunting ban would seriously threaten their livelihoods.

Nor is there a problem with its legality. The legitimate and lawful recreational activity involves a scent being laid across the countryside for packs of hounds to follow. The Hunting Act allowed trail hunting, and under it, prosecutions are brought when there is evidence of illegal hunting activity. A ban on trail hunting is unnecessary, unjustified and unfair.

The proposals, then, reek of an attempt to distract from the government’s catastrophic failings in solving the real priority of voters – the cost of living crisis.

Recent polling by ORB showed how voters view the government’s proposals. The poll found that two in three voters (65%) think the Labour government unfairly neglects those living in the countryside and does not care about those that live there (64%). When asked what the government's top priorities should be, not a single respondent mentioned a ban on trail hunting. The public’s top priorities were the economy (36%), immigration/asylum/ borders (17%) and health/social care (15%).

This is not a priority for the British public. Voters care about food on their table and cheaper energy bills; not toxic culture wars. And they already believe that a toxic culture war is exactly what the government has been pursuing.

If the government continues down this path, it will do nothing but confirm to rural people that Labour has warped priorities and a fundamental dislike of the countryside. With more than a quarter of its MPs holding rural seats, that is not a wise move for the government to make.

On Boxing Day, I attended the Hurworth Hunt’s meet in Northallerton. The streets were packed with hundreds of supporters. Not one opponent was to be sighted. In February last year, thousands of people with hundreds of tractors descended on London to protest the Family Farm Tax. The government would do well not to underestimate rural people’s passion and commitment to defending their way of life.