Defra’s call for evidence on gamebird shooting closed last week. The big question now is: what happens next? The Alliance, like our colleagues in Aim to Sustain (BASC, GWCT, the National Gamekeepers Organisation and the Game Farmers Association), has submitted detailed evidence as have thousands of farms, estates and shoot businesses.

Evidence, however, is only one part of any legislative process and what tends to be much more important is political motivation. On the downside this process only arose out of Defra Ministers’ decision to include a proposal to license the release of game birds and game shooting in the Land Use Framework published earlier this year. It would not be outrageous, therefore, to suggest that the call for evidence is an attempt to justify a position that the government has already taken.

On the upside, it is possibly the most stupid of the many stupid rural policies that the Labour government has introduced since the 2024 election. It may seem counterintuitive, but there is an argument that the madder a policy is, the less likely it is to get the go ahead from a Prime Minister who is reputed to be politically savvy and entirely focussed on tackling the cost of living and improving the lives of working people. Restricting game shooting would contribute absolutely nothing to that agenda, nor would it lead to growth in any postcode, let alone in every postcode as Andy Burnham has promised.

To comprehend the potential impact of the government’s proposals it is important to understand exactly what they would entail. In order to license an activity you have to ban it. This would mean legislating to make the release of pheasants and partridges, and the shooting of pheasants, partridges and grouse, illegal. Licensing schemes to allow the release and shooting of relevant gamebirds would then be introduced.

Proponents will argue that this is all very light touch and that applicants would get a licence by presumption or that general licences would be issued, for instance, for the release of pheasants and partridges. If all release of game birds were to be licensed, however, who would be confident that Natural England or Defra would react calmly to a heightened threat of Avian Influenza or Newcastle Disease which are carried by wild birds and represent a grave threat to the poultry industry? Who then is going to set up shoots, employ keepers, or build accommodation if a shooting business could be closed down at the stroke of a regulator’s pen or a minister’s whim?

So how do we fight this proposal? If Defra pushes ahead we can expect a full consultation next year and it will be vital that everyone involved in shooting responds. In the meantime, the most important thing is that shooting stands together with farming, horse racing, trail hunting and a range of other rural sectors who are increasingly concerned about the government’s approach. Our message to the new Prime Minister is simple. He needs to reject the divisive rural politics of the last two years and reset Labour’s relationship with the countryside.