War on field sports feared as No 10 adviser suggests curbs on firearms
PM’S environment chief calls for greater action over shoots after meeting with wildlife campaigners
THERESA MAY’S top environmental adviser is backing new curbs on firearm licences, pheasant shooting and grouse moor management in what some MPS fear is a new “war” on field sports.
Sir John Randall, who works in the No 10 policy unit, purportedly told campaigners in a private meeting he was looking at new curbs on the use of lead ammunition, firearms licences and grouse shooting. He then told them that he had raised the activists’ concerns personally with Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary.
Sir John was a Government whip from 2010 to
2013. He was MP for Uxbridge from 1997 to 2010, and then MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip from 2010 to 2015 when he was succeeded by Boris Johnson. He was appointed Mrs May’s environment adviser last August after quitting as a Tory MP in 2015. He is paid £72,000 a year to work part-time and is a former RSPB trustee.
He met with Findlay Wilde, a conservationist, and two other campaigners – Josie Hewitt, a wildlife photographer and Georgia Locock who has marched in protest against grouse shooting – in No10 on Nov 23. Sir John made the remarks in an emailed response to Mr Wilde’s notes from the meeting, which was posted by the activist on his blog on Dec 4.
According to the blog, he told Mr Wilde that he wanted to see “how we might increase sentences for wildlife crime as well as removal of firearm licences for wildlife crime and other crimes” even though the police already have wide-ranging powers. He also told Mr Wilde of his concern about “environmentally harmful practices associated with some moorland practices that also need to be addressed”.
Sir John added he “share[d] concerns about the ‘industrialisation’ of some pheasant shoots” and he had “serious concerns about the continued use of lead shot”. He said: “It is not only harmful to the environment but can have health concerns for some human beings who eat a large amount of shot game. I am looking into ways which could change behaviour in this regard including encouraging retailers to promote lead free game.”
Sir John said he had passed on to Mr Gove a card warning on the dangers to hen harriers that Mr Wilde had given him, adding: “He sends you his thanks and best wishes. It gave me the opportunity to talk about the issues – so thank you from me too.”
Pro-field sports MPS are privately appalled by the comments, which come amid reports that Theresa May, the Prime Minister, is looking at dropping a manifesto pledge for a free vote on hunting. The party’s 2015 election manifesto explicitly backed country sports, whereas there was no such commitment in the 2017 manifesto.
One hunting source said that the “tone of John Randall’s supposed response is absolutely the language of the anti-shooting movement” and could be read as “the Conservatives declaring war on shooting”.
One Conservative MP said it was “quite extraordinary” that advisers were “promoting removal of licences beyond the already wide powers the police have to remove licences”. He added that attacking grouse moor management overlooked the “huge economic and environmental benefits” of the moorland. The UK pheasant industry is claimed to support tens of thousands of jobs.
The MP added: “The hundreds of thousands of rural people involved in game shooting will be surprised that there are ‘concerns’ about the industry at the centre of Government.”
No 10 said that it would not comment on leaked documents.
‘The hundreds of thousands of rural people involved in game shooting will be surprised that there are “concerns” about the industry at the centre of Government’