The Prime Minister’s recent reshuffle of his government will have significant impact on shooting with key positions in both Defra and the Home Office changing hands. This piece identifies the meaningful ministerial changes and looks at the issues they will be faced with that will affect shooting. 

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been transferred from Steve Reed MP to Emma Reynolds, MP for Wycombe. Emma Reynolds was previously City Minister in the Treasury and was well regarded in that role, having been a financial lobbyist before becoming an MP. Her acumen as a countrywoman is as yet unknown but she already has a long list of important issues surrounding shooting to consider. These include: 

• Ban on ‘snare traps’ – as promised in Labour’s election manifesto, it is crucial that humane restraints are not erroneously included in such a ban. A ban on snare traps which do not comply to internationally agreed standards (AIHTS) is however justifiable, as is a requirement for the users of humane restraints to be licensed. Should humane restraints be unjustifiably banned, conservation of rare species and protection of livestock will be made immeasurably more difficult at the cost of the countryside’s biodiversity and the farming industry (and ergo consumers). 

• Lead – the government has announced its plans to ban the use of lead shot after a three-year transition period. However, the starting point of that transition period is not yet set, although it is expected to be sometime in summer 2026. Emma Reynolds will be the one signing off on this in due course. 

• General Licences – the general licences for both the release of game birds on/near SACs and SPAs, and for the control of wild birds for certain reasons fall on Emma Reynolds’ desk. We will be applying significant pressure on her to review the weak and blinkered reasoning given for withholding GL45 this year, preventing numerous shoots on SPAs, like Salisbury Plain, from releasing birds. 

• Deer strategy – the government’s response to the 2022 consultation on a national deer strategy is still awaited. This response is both long overdue and much needed given the currently booming population of certain species of deer in many parts of England, and the damage they are causing. 

Minister for Policing 

Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon West, has stepped into the shoes of Dame Diana Johnson MP as Minister for Policing in the Home Office. The Home Secretary office, to which the Policing Minister reports has also changed hands from Yvette Cooper MP to Shabana Mahmood MP. The key portfolio that falls to the Policing Minster and therefore the Home Secretary is firearms licensing. The firearms licensing issues which may already be on the Minister’s desk include: 

• Consultation on firearms licensing – announced earlier this year, the government will be consulting the public on tightening the already stringent firearms licensing laws in Britain by aligning Section 2 (shotguns) licences with Section 1 (firearms). These needless and unjustifiable consultation and proposal fail to address the real problem with firearms licensing – the way it is disparately conducted by 43 separate authorities in England and Wales. 

• Countryside Alliance campaign for a single licensing body – in response to the government’s planned consultation the Countryside Alliance launched a campaign to ensure the government knows exactly how the shooting community feels about firearms licensing and what it can do to fix it. The previous minister’s response to our campaign was weak and largely outdated, and we will continue to present the case to her successor, Sarah Jones. 

• Deregulation of sound moderators – the government has already announced its plans to remove sound moderators, also referred to as silencers, from the definition of ‘firearm’ in law, thus removing the need for them to be treated in the same way as all other Section 1 firearms. It is the Policing Minister’s duty to enact these plans.  

The Countryside Alliance will be in contact with those government ministers with a portfolio that affects shooting to ensure that all those involved in shooting are properly represented.