Six of the Countryside Alliance’s 27 ‘harmful’ policies hit shooting

Six of the 27 government policies the Countryside Alliance has branded harmful to rural Britain bear directly on shooting, the full list published by the alliance on 16 September shows. Released two days after the alliance launched its Campaign for the Countryside at Westminster, the list names the proposed licensing of game shooting, the wider burning ban on deep peat, firearms licensing fee rises, a snare ban, shotgun licensing changes and the withdrawal of general licence GL45.

Which of the 27 policies concern shooting?

The alliance’s entry on the Land Use Framework for England says the document treats land managed for shooting as having a limited ability to deliver “multifunctional” benefits because of unspecified trade-offs, and it notes the call for evidence on game shooting launched on 4 September. The alliance argues that shoots nearly always coexist with agriculture and that a still more restrictive approach would undermine the economic, social and conservation contribution of well-managed shooting.

On heather burning, the list records that the definition of deep peat has been cut from 40cm to 30cm, extending the burning ban from 220,000ha to 676,628ha. The alliance says this has damaged the viability of affected shooting estates and raised the risk of wildfire.

On licensing, it cites the certificate fee rises of February 2025, which it puts at between 133% and 157% depending on the certificate type, and a further 3% inflation increase from 4 June 2026. A separate entry covers the proposal to align shotgun licensing more closely with Section 1 firearms, which the alliance says would place a considerable extra administrative burden on police licensing units already stretched to capacity.

The proposed snare ban, promised in the Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy and expected to go to consultation, is listed because it is unclear whether modern humane restraints would be caught. The alliance says their inclusion would remove an important pest control tool from farmers, gamekeepers and land managers. The sixth shooting entry records the withdrawal of general licence GL45 over avian influenza concerns, and the High Court’s ruling in July 2026, after a legal challenge by BASC, that Natural England’s licensing conditions for gamebird release on special protection areas were unlawful and irrational.

The other 21 entries

The remaining entries range across the changes to agricultural and business property relief, the closure and redesign of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, higher employer National Insurance and the National Living Wage, housing targets and grey belt development, solar and onshore wind pressure on farmland, the double-cab pickup tax change, the narrowing of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, the proposed trail hunting ban, council and police force mergers, business rates, the loss of the £110m Rural Services Delivery Grant, VAT relief for listed churches, the exclusion of food and farming from strategic procurement, and gambling affordability checks that racing says threaten its levy income.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “The timing of this campaign and event is significant. After two years where an unprecedented range of government policies have left rural people feeling under attack, a new Prime Minister provides an opportunity for the government to reset its relationship with rural Britain and recognise the contribution the countryside can make to the whole country.”

He added: “Rural people are not asking government to solve every problem overnight. They are asking to be heard, understood and treated fairly.”

“It is time to treat the countryside as part of the solution to a united Britain, not a problem or an afterthought. We are asking the government to work with rural communities, not against them. Now is the time for a rural reset.”

What happens next

The alliance’s letter to the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, went in on 15 September, and its e-lobby at ruralreset.org lets supporters write to their own MP. Of the six shooting entries, three have live dates attached: Defra’s call for evidence on gamebird shooting closes on 1 November, the snare consultation has yet to open, and the Home Office has said its consultation on shotgun licensing will follow “in due course”. ShootingUK will report each as it moves.