Hunters vow: It's business as usual

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Friday 4th Jul 2003.

HUNTSMEN vowed to protect north Wiltshire's country way of life this week in the face of an overwhelming vote by MPs in the Commons for a total ban on hunting with dogs.

It was business as usual for Chippenham's hunts, despite Monday's vote for a ban, which threw the Government's compromise plan for some hunts to be licensed into disarray.

But members of the Beaufort and Avon Vale Hunts carried on with preparations for hunting to get under way on November 1.

Joint Master of the Beaufort, Ian Farquhar, said: "This vote shows Labour to be completely out of touch. The majority of people oppose a ban and opinion polls show only two per cent of people think it's important at all.

"It shows that Labour is utterly at odds with the countryside ­ the percentage of farmers who support hunting is in the high nineties."

Beaufort Hunt supporter, Jo Aldridge joined thousands of women in an all night vigil in Parliament Square on Sunday ahead of Monday's debate in the Commons. She was furious with the timing of the debate.

She said: "The Government has problems with Iraq and the health service, and so they roll out the hunting issue again as a smokescreen, but I am convinced the Lords will see sense and the ban will not go through.

"The Government is kicking the countryside like a football."

Hunt supporters are now fighting to stop the Parliament Act being enforced to get the Bill through.

News of Monday's vote was greeted with relief by opponents of the sport. Malcolm Clark of Wiltshire's League Against Cruel Sports said: "We have waited a long time for a total ban on hunting with dogs to arrive.

"I am sure the Lords will go on to reject it but then it will be a case for the Parliament Act to come into play."

Meanwhile, police said this week that they fear a total ban would be impossible to enforce.

Alistair McWhirter, Chief Constable of Suffolk and rural spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, and previously Assistant Chief Constable in Wiltshire, said officers were filled with dread at the prospect of policing a ban. He said it was impossible for police to stop and arrest huntspeople on horseback and seize hounds and horses. Writing in a national newspaper, Mr McWhirter said he thought protesters could turn to shooting next: "If you thought demos at hunts were dangerous, think about the possibilities when a protester walks in front of the guns," he said.

Inspector Neil Bagnall, of Chippenham police, has been involved with policing Avon Vale hunts in the past.

He said: "We try to police hunts as fairly as possible, recognising that people have the right to protest, and people currently have the right to hunt.

"Potentially a ban could be hard to police but we will have to wait and see what form the legislation takes."

North Wiltshire MP, James Gray was disappointed with Monday's vote. He said huge crowds that flocked to meetings of the Avon Vale and Beaufort Hunt showed that hunting played a key role in country life.

He said: "If people want to gallop around the countryside and risk the chance of falling off and breaking their necks they should be allowed to."

There are three more stages for the Bill before it goes to the House of Lords.

Master of the Avon Vale Hunt, Jonathan Seed said: "Given time, the Government will reflect on the ineptitude of the Bill."

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