Sharpshooter

Did Theresa May’s pledge on fox hunting cause the disastrous result of the General Election? At least BASC gives us cause for optimism

You can’t blame the pledge on hunting for Theresa Mayhem’s campaign cock-up. Unfortunately, however, fox hunting is now being slated as one of the most toxic parts of the failed Conservative manifesto. Yes, it was only ever a minor consideration for most of the public. But the hunting pledge became totemic. It was raised with candidates on the urban doorstep much more frequently than many had predicted.

This was partly because the pledge was interpreted as “going back to tearing foxes apart”. In reality, of course, it was supposed to be about allowing a free vote which might, perhaps, have allowed licensed hunting as envisaged in the aftermath of the 1999 Burns Inquiry.

Even before the manifesto was launched, some hunt followers thought that shoving the issue into the face of a heavily “Packhamised” electorate was always going to end badly.

We all know that the Hunting Act is an incredibly bad piece of legislation.

It is practically unenforceable in the ways the antis originally envisaged. Whisper it quietly, but more people are enjoying fox hunting than before the ban. But even so, was it wise to poke the hornet’s nest?

Optimism for BASC

A year ago I wrote that BASC seemed reinvigorated under its newly forged council (Sharpshooter, 29 June 2016). Having attended this year’s AGM, I am delighted to see my optimism borne out.

Membership is at a record high and could hit 150,000 later this year. The annual surplus reached £1.2million. With no external shareholders, this will be invested in the promotion and protection of shooting as well as bolstering financial reserves — important in these politically unstable times. Acting chief executive Christopher Graffius has proved his worth over the past year. Moreover, the election of Lord Dear as BASC president is a wise move. He is not politically aligned and has a track record of public service.

Yet success breeds suspicion in some. One shooter responded to BASC’S financial performance by asking me: “Is this why our subs keep going up?” I explained that, all things being equal, an increasing membership base leads to an increasing surplus, even if the margin on each individual subscription remains the same.

Then there is the free entry for BASC members to this year’s Game Fair. I am told that one member complained that this didn’t do anything for him as he lived far away. He was minded to resign in disgust.

Well, I live 260 miles away from Hatfield House, but I shall be taking advantage of the offer. Free entry to all three days of the Game Fair is worth almost the same as my annual BASC club subscription.

The moaner’s attitude reminds me of the tale of an old peasant who was ploughing when he turned up a lamp that contained a genie.

The genie said: “I shall give you anything you wish, subject to just one condition: whatever I give you, I shall give twice of the same to your neighbour.”

The peasant was in a quandary. He was tempted to ask for another plough horse, but then his neighbour would get a pair. He thought long and hard. Finally, his face split into a horrible grin. “What I wish for,” he told the genie, “is to be blinded in one eye.”

“Fox hunting was only ever a minor consideration for the public, but it became totemic”