Use your vote to end hunting cruelty forever

Vote to end the cruelty that is hunting forever

Hunting and shooting campaigners love to pretend they are the guardians of the UK countryside. They are supported in this claim by the pro hunting press and the Countryside Alliance. The latter also likes to pretend they are the voice of the countryside, speaking out for country people on all kinds of issues. The reality is somewhat different as their real and only remit is to bring back hunting with hounds by fair means or foul.

It’s not just our harmless wildlife that suffers, extreme violence is often used against those opposed to blood -sports too. People have been killed in the fight to save animals and many more have been beaten and even hospitalised by hunters and their brutish hangers on. So why you may wonder, would an MP wish to associate with such violent and unsocial characters? It’s a worrying trait indeed to think that those who may be leading the country are themselves affiliated to the dirty affairs of the blood sports enthusiasts.

The Countryside Alliance is locked in a battle they dare not lose if they wish to remain in existence in their present form after the election on May 7th. To date they have tried every trick in the book to persuade the rest of us that killing for sport is necessary and wholesome. Poll after poll has shown that the British people are against hunting, yet undeterred they keep going with the propaganda and the dirty tricks. The current ploy used by the pro hunting set is Vote OK. Vote OK is made up of hunters and shooters who have offered to deliver leaflets, and even canvass, for prospective Tory MPs. Sounds very laudable and public spirited doesn’t it, until you learn that they do this in return for a promise from that MP to vote for repeal of the hunting Act. What is even more underhand is that hunters don’t declare on the doorstep that they are doing this in return for a favour from the MP. It’s a kind of cash for questions situation although no cash changes hands, just a promise of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours by voting to bring back your cruel sport in return for delivering my leaflets.  It obviously matters not that 80% of us don’t want the Act repealed.  This way of operating is deceitful at best, at worst it smacks of bribery and corruption.

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That the hunters are desperate is obvious, as a letter which has been circulated to pro hunt groups on FaceBook shows. It is a rally call for Vote OK supporters to deliver leaflets for Neil Carmichael in the marginal seat in Stroud, where they hope their efforts will secure a pro hunt Tory win. It is one of many rally calls across the country for a huge effort in the marginals where there is chance of returning an MP who will vote for repeal. 

David Cameron has already stated he will hold a free vote on repeal if the Tories are elected for a further term, and as Labour has promised to support the ban it’s no wonder the hunters are going all out to secure a Tory win.  

Page 23 of the Tory manifesto states, 

Disembowelled fox

 "We will support countryside pursuits. We will protect hunting, shooting and fishing, for all the benefits to individuals, the environment and the rural economy that these activities bring. A Conservative Government will give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a government bill in government time."

This is not democratic in any way, it’s a conflict of interest, it’s the Tory blood sport enthusiasts in Parliament who are using their power and their privilege as MPs to repeal a legal, working Act which the majority of us want to remain in Law.  What can those of us do who abhor the cruelty that is hunting? We can begin by challenging these doorstep pro hunting Tories. We can call them out on their underhand tactics and we can send them packing. The next thing we can do, and the most important thing, if we genuinely care about our foxes, deer, hares and badgers, is to vote Labour on May the 7th. Labour has promised to protect our wild animals, and Labour is the only party with the numbers to kick the bloodthirsty Tories out of office.

Resources
http://b.3cdn.net/labouruk/e1d45da42456423b8c_vwm6brbvb.pdf
http://www.league.org.uk/news-and-opinion/videos