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Parliament-based campaign group set to step up pressure on government to end it illegal fox hunting For good – as ministers prepare for a public consultation on the issue.
Labor MP Neil Duncan-Jordan will introduce a private member’s bill to impose closure in the new year shortcomings Which allows activity to continue, including imposing restrictions on trail-Hunt,
“This is our opportunity to lift the restrictions before the elections,” he said. “There’s no way Nigel Farage [Reform UK leader] Will impose restrictions.”
In protest, Labor promised to crack down on illegal Huntand its last election manifesto Pledged to ban trail-hunting,
The New Hunting Ban campaign group will next week publish a list of reforms which it says will strengthen the 2004 Hunting Act, to mark the 21st anniversary of the Act being passed.
Legislation that took effect in early 2005 banned the hunting of wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales.
Hunters say they follow the scent trail rather than the fox’s, but Proof From monitors, supervisors, drone And the saboteurs claim to show large scale fox hunting,
householder, animal SanctuaryBusinesses and even funerals have been harassed by hounds tearing up their land, and pets are killed,
Independent before this revealed How the owner of a pony-trekking company was forced to abandon his £70,000-a-year business due to routine disruption. People who oppose hunting in some areas say they are intimidated into silence,
Mr. Duncan-Jordan told Independent When he accompanied North London Hunt saboteurs to monitor a hunt last month, he found no sign of hunters following the scent trail.
“There were hounds everywhere, including on the road, where they blocked traffic. And they were sent into bushes or bushes where no one could track them,” he said.
“The riders positioned themselves on either side of a part of the forest to watch for a fox running towards them. Why would they do this if they were following a trail?”
He said that when Hunt supporters said “good morning” to him he refused to respond, instead staring at them and holding camera phones in his face to try to intimidate him.
Environment Minister Angela Eagle has said a consultation will be held early next year.
in 2020 Major landowners suspend trail-hunting After the leak of zoom meetings in which hunting chiefs from across the UK discussed how To create “a smokescreen”,
Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, the national policing lead on hunting with hounds, told a parliamentary briefing in October: “It is inherently difficult to take cases to court. The question is: do we have the tools to meet the public’s expectations? At the moment, I believe trail hunting is being used as a smokescreen.”
The new hunting ban, which was launched in May and which has led to meetings in Parliament with the RSPCA, the League Against Cruel Sports, the head of the wildlife crime unit and conducted its own consultation, is presenting its suggested reforms “as an example of gold-standard legislation”.
Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “This is not fringe politics – this is mainstream animal welfare,
And he rejected claims that opposition to hunting was an issue of class jealousy, saying that the saboteurs he met were from a variety of careers.
“You can enjoy riding in the countryside and petting dogs, but it doesn’t need to end there killing an innocent wild animalI’m not interested in rituals or stopping people from wearing fancy clothes and hanging out with friends,
But it should not end with any animal being cut into pieces, he said.
“I’m interested in making sure we can impose sanctions appropriately before the election.”
His private member bill will also be stopped deer huntingWhich is done by poachers using exemptions in the law.
Action Against Foxhunting (AAF) group, compiled Police responded to over 80 incidents in one winter hunting season, closure one who regularly stresses Failed to act on reports of illegal fox hunting And fail to bring charges Even when they are presented with overwhelming evidence.
A spokesman for the governing body of the British Hound Sports Association said: “Nothing in Mr Duncan-Jordan’s comments describes illegal behaviour. Hounds entering shelters, riders having an eye on them, and supporters filming interactions are all routine features of trail-hunting. Misunderstanding the common practice is not grounds for banning a legal activity.
“It is difficult to understand why the MP for Poole did not respond to our invitation to National Trail Hunting Day – which included a meeting only 20 miles from his constituency – yet chose to travel almost 300 miles to accompany the vandals in Northamptonshire. His constituents may rightly ask how this served his interests.
“The investigation into trail-hunting is entirely legitimate, and we welcome it. But the investigation must be based on evidence, not assumption. Mr. Duncan-Jordan has presented nothing that would justify banning an activity that is legitimate, regulated, and operating under clear rules.”