Thousands support boxing day hunts
Updated on 26 December 2009
Thousands of people turn out to support traditional boxing day hunts, as the environment secretary launches a new campaign to support the foxhunting ban. Benjamin Cohen reports.
In a sign of how concerned the anti-hunting lobby is about the future of the ban, Mr Benn is spearheading an awareness-raising drive about the Conservatives' plans.
The Countryside Alliance senses that with a potential Conservative government, the political winds might be changing. On the defensive, the Labour party has today launched a celebrity-laden campaign to retain the existing law.
The campaign is supported by the actors Patrick Stewart, Jenny Seagrove and Tony Robinson. The campaign, urging people to demonstrate their support at www.backtheban.com, comes as opponents of the 2004 anti-hunt law step up protests on their traditional boxing day outings today.
It will be seen as another attempt by Labour to stress the dividing lines between themselves and the Tories ahead of next year's general election. Conservative leader David Cameron has promised a free vote on the repeal of the Hunting Act, saying he believes it "doesn't work" and "doesn't make sense".
It is certain to become an issue in the next election.
Deep snow meant hunting was curtailed in many areas today, but in Corbridge, Northumberland, crowds packed the village market place to cheer on the Tynedale Hunt.
Joint master of the Tynedale Hunt Frank Houghton-Brown said he hoped a new government would overturn the hunting ban. Leading the 150-year-old Tynedale foxhound pack from Stagshaw kennels, a mile north of the village, he said: "There has to be an election by next spring and this will bring a new government, I believe, and they (the Conservative party) have promised a free vote on the future of hunting.
"Then the hunting ban will be repealed. The MPs will vote that way because they can see that the ban and the act of parliament has been completely ineffective."
Animal rights group The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) warned hunts they must act within the law or face the consequences.
Robbie Marsland, UK director of IFAW, said: "We have no problem at all with hunts meeting to enjoy a gallop through the countryside, over Christmas or at any other time, as long as this does not involve wild animals being cruelly chased and killed."
