Take action to protect the future of hunting

The Alliance has commissioned polls of public opinion on hunting and rural issues for over two decades. We know that hunting is at the bottom of the list of voters’ priorities. An utter irrelevance compared to the burning political issues of the day – the NHS, inflation and the economy – but also significantly less important than issues like wind farms, HS2 and development in the countryside. Yet hunting remains stubbornly on the political agenda. For Labour in particular, it remains a totemic issue and one which the left of the party and its activist base cannot drop any more than a dog can drop a bone. 

That is, presumably, why Labour has recommitted to its policy of ‘strengthening the Hunting Act and banning trail hunting’. With the bookies making Keir Starmer the odds-on favourite to become Prime Minister in 2024, the Alliance convened a briefing for leading hunting members in Westminster last month. There, a panel made up of politicians, a pollster, a journalist and the managing director of the British Hound Sports Association, explained the imminent political threat to hunting, the changes that are necessary to help the Alliance fight off further restrictions and the route to securing a sustainable future for hunting with hounds for decades to come. 

Nicholas (Lord) Soames hosted the event and reminded us of his grandfather, Winston Churchill’s, response to the first Bill to ban hunting in 1948 when he held a meet at home and stayed out with hounds for two hours despite being well into his 70s. Lord Soames was, however, very clear that however unjustified further restrictions on trail hunting would be, it was incumbent on everyone who hunts to uphold the highest standards at all times and that not doing so was simply handing ammunition to our opponents. 

The briefing then heard about recent research on opinion from both the public and the hunting community. Polling had once again found that hunting was at the bottom of the list of the public’s political priorities, but it also suggested that when people are asked directly about trail hunting and wildlife management, they do have concerns. It is exactly this sentiment, which is a result of the increasing distance between the reality of those who manage the countryside and the understanding of the rest of the population, which the animal rights movement leverages for its political ends. Activists know well that whilst hunting is an issue that the vast majority of the population would not even consider in their day to day lives, it is an activity that can be presented in a way that many, if pressed, are uncomfortable with. 

As far as the hunting community is concerned, the pride that people have for their hunts was pronounced and the clearest finding of the internal research was that the priority of hunting people is to protect what we have and oppose any further legal restrictions on trail hunting. 

Our Chairman, Lord Herbert, then laid out the clear threat posed by a possible change of government in 2024, highlighted by Labour’s commitment to strengthen the Hunting Act and ban trail hunting. He outlined the Alliance’s work in ensuring that trail hunting had been kept off the political agenda in recent years, but warned that legislation was now likely if there is a change in government. He concluded with a strong message that hunting has the ability to secure its future for decades to come if it makes the right choices. 

Greg Smith MP and our President, Baroness Mallalieu, outlined the situation as they see it in the House of Commons and the House of Lords respectively. Baroness Mallalieu also gave her view of Labour’s approach and reminded the audience of the work that the Alliance has done over several years with the Fabian Society and others to focus Labour policy on real rural priorities. 

Finally, Olly Hughes, managing director of the British Hound Sports Association, explained its role and that of the Hound Sports Regulatory Authority. He briefed the audience on the work they are doing to raise standards across hunting. 

There were several references during the briefing to the formation of the Countryside Alliance and the first great hunting rally in Hyde Park in 1997 which signalled the start of the campaign against the hunting ban. If there was one message that I hope everyone attending the briefing went away with it was that this time around we must act now and not delay reform until a government is elected with a commitment to legislate against hunting. There are many who believe that if hunting had acted more decisively to put its own house in order prior to the election of a Labour government in 1997 the long political battle might have ended differently. No one knows whether or not such action would have made a difference in 1997, but I am certain that we do not want to be asking ourselves the same question in 2024. The future of hunting is very much in our own hands.

This article was first published in My Countryside magazine.