Hunting and Cameron's Conservatives (From The Northern Echo)

Hunting and Cameron's Conservatives

10:35am Monday 4th January 2010 in Letters

THE Conservative-funded Countryside Alliance (CA) apparently has high hopes that riding to hounds savaging wildlife will be restored once David Cameron, himself a rider to hounds, gains control.

There will apparently be no dilly-dallying either – unlike the time it took (seven years) for Tony Blair to produce an Act only curtailing some of the cruelty involved.

Like everything else under New Labour, the Act was a dog’s dinner, unworkable, pleasing nobody and probably hasn’t saved a single wild creature since, something the CA admits.

New Labour’s longevity is due in some extent to Mr Blair making frequent electioneering promises in the past to ban hunting with hounds. He also was to clean up vivisection practices said to be even more cruel than blood sports.

Nothing changed, however, and it was left to backbenchers mostly to press for a hunting ban while ministers were conspicuous by their absence even during crucial hunting debates.

Millions of animal lovers and others sick of New Labour oppression are hardly likely to vote Conservative despite Mr Cameron’s assurances that his party is now for everybody, not just the monied class – but who could possibly trust anyone who apparently is at ease urging trained hounds to savage defenceless wildlife in the name of sport?

Norman Wall, Wallsend, Tyne and Wear.