A COMMON CAUSE

I write this as an enthusiastic member of BASC who is supportive of its aims. I did not join for insurance but to support a voice for shooting – much the same reason that I subscribe to the GWCT. However, it has occurred to me that something is being missed in terms of campaigning. While it is vital to reinforce the link between shooting and food, and to shout loudly about the environmental benefits best practice brings, we need to pay attention to the culture that underpins us.

Fieldsports form part of an unbroken line as old as man himself. Art, cuisine, literature, way of dress, our own terminology – fieldsports are not singular activities but part of a world in the round. As has been demonstrated by those who wish to do us harm, when you remove an activity such as shooting from the context that gives it meaning and provides justification, and instead provide a new context – ‘killing for fun’, for example – you can turn the public against us.

I read a lot of comments that fall under the ‘we need to take the fight to the other side’ banner. Often I see people advocating the use of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. That is not a relevant legal instrument in regards to the outcome we all want. It is difficult when we seek to defend only what we already have. Organisations harp on about tradition, but in 2021/22 this is a polarising word. Culture is not.

While I am fond of tradition, if we sought to demonstrate to those outside of our bubble that we are but one activity inside a whole living culture of related activities – effectively a whole world and a rich, nuanced and varied one at that – then that, as I see it, is our greatest weapon. Rights that exist only on paper are just as flimsy but rights underpinned by shared culture and accepted by society at large will weather any storm – it is for that we must all strive.

Peter Barker-morgan, by email