Labour urged to ‘reset’ with the countryside 

Twenty years after the Hunting Act came into force, amid a “growing breakdown of confidence”, the Countryside Alliance (CA) is pushing the Government to restore its relationship with the countryside. 

The warning comes as rural campaign groups feel increasingly ignored following controversial changes to inheritance tax on family farms, as well as proposals to restrict access to shotguns. Labour also made a manifesto commitment to “ban trail-hunting”. This move has prompted concerns that, by focusing on issues that affect comparatively few, the Government risks further fuelling tensions with rural voters. 

A recent CA poll asked 2,077 members of the public for the top three priorities they wanted the Government to address. Only one of more than 6,000 responses mentioned hunting. Respondents were then asked to rank the importance of 10 current issues. The NHS took the top spot with 83% of the vote, followed by controlling immigration (57%) and defence spending (32%). Trail-hunting was voted least important. 

CA chief executive Tim Bonner said the Government should not waste hours more of parliamentary time re-opening the hunting issue. He said: “It is wrong for the Government to prioritise hunting, an issue which is irrelevant to the vast majority of the population, further souring its relationship with the rural community and losing the new Labour MPs it worked so hard to get elected in the countryside. 

“Ignoring lessons of history is not wise, and the new Government has already launched itself into a battle with the countryside over inheritance tax on farms and wanting to restrict access to shotguns, a vital tool for farmers and rural workers. If the Government wants to avoid further fanning flames, it would be wise to focus on prioritising issues that will help rural communities.” 

Christopher Graffius, executive director of communications and public affairs at BASC, told ST the issue of the Government’s relationship with rural voters was a highly complex one but that it is not anti-shooting: 

“The Government has to understand that targeting firearms ownership without fixing the inefficiencies of the licensing system damages the re-election prospects of every rural labour MP. The Government should build on its positive statements backing sustainable shooting and grouse shooting and bring the Home Office to heel on firearms ownership,” he said.