Rural sports step up for a challenge in New Year
Battles over the future of country sports are likely to get even more heated in 2021. Philip Bowern reports
COUNTRY sports organisations are gearing up for a challenging 2021 as battles over rural management and pastimes threaten to escalate.
In an article for the Countryside Alliance’s house magazine, the organisation’s chairman, former MP Nick Herbert, warns that threats to many rural activities have not gone away, despite Labour’s defeat at the December 2019 election.
He writes: “Last year’s General Election saw the most serious threat to our countryside activities for over a decade. For the first time, restrictions to both shooting and hunting were proposed by a major political party.
“While the election of the Conservatives means that we do not currently expect government measures to attack us, we cannot be complacent. There is still the possibility of backbench initiatives, while vociferous and well-funded animal rights pressure groups continue to press for restrictions. We must use this time wisely to ensure that all rural activities are placed on a more secure footing to resist political attack in future.”
Lord Herbert of South Downs, the former MP for Arundel and South Downs and ex-Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice, became chairman of the rural pressure group in October, 2019.
He said the future of countryside activities like hunting and shooting had to rest on three pillars – the science and evidence of their benefit; upholding the highest standards of conduct; and retaining social licence, which means broad public approval for such activities.
He went on: “I particularly want to emphasise the importance of standards in the conduct of hunting and shooting. Environmental issues have soared up the political agenda, while social media has changed the way news is generated and campaigns develop. Single incidents, even if misrepresented, can result in huge and rapid political pressure for change. Our activities take place on private land, but in the public eye, and they must be conducted accordingly.”
‘We must use this time to ensure all rural activities are placed on a secure footing’ NICK HERBERT, CA
He highlighted attempts by Labour MPs to move amendments to the Agriculture Bill, denying support payments to farmers who permit legal exempt hunting on their land while efforts to prohibit trail hunting on land owned by organisations like the National Trust have been at least partially successful – a temporary ban has been imposed while police investigate reports that hunting organisations have discussed how trail hunting can be used as a “smokescreen”.
He writes: “Only recently the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill before
Parliament was used by hostile MPs as a platform to mount strong attacks on hunting, and we expect further animal welfare legislation in the next Session. Parliamentary Bills can be amended by backbenchers, and we have seen how easily issues can flare up at Westminster in the current rather febrile political environment. We could see further attempts to restrict both shooting and hunting at any time. The CA’s political team will be vigilant in watching legislative developments and where necessary lobbying MPs, Peers and government.”
Shooting’s major membership organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), is also predicting a busy 2021. Jak Abrahams, BASC’s Political Affairs Manager, reports that the organisation has launched a new parliamentary campaign to support rural Britain.
He writes on the BASC website: “This campaign is designed to broaden politicians’ knowledge of shooting while also creating direct links to their constituencies. All 650 MPs have been invited to join the campaign and visit local shoots, clay grounds and gun shops in their regions. A vast number of MPs have already signed up with visits planned for as early as January 2021.”
Anti-rural sports organisations like the League Against Cruel Sports report plans to capitalise on the ban on trail hunting on National Trust land. Boxing Day meets, at which members of the public traditionally show their support for organised hunts, were drastically curtailed this year because of the coronavirus crisis. Referring to the evidence that trail hunting is, in the words of one senior hunting figure, a “smokescreen,” Chris Luffingham, the League’s campaign director, said: “As we near what should have been the ceremonial centre-piece of the hunting calendar, hunting is facing a crisis almost entirely of its own making.”
Despite restrictions, several hunts did host Boxing Day meets, under rules which permit outdoor activities, although crowds which usually gather were unable to do so.