Editorial Comment
New Threats to the Future of Hunting?
Put yourself in their shoes? What would you do?
You’d campaigned for decades to ban hunting and VE-Day for you was 18th February 2005 when the Hunting Act 04 became a law of this land.
But what is this? Four years on and the whole world seems to be saying this new law is not working? There is devil in the detail. Furthermore, a senior high court judge has just set a precedent which because of that ‘detail’ the Hunting Act 04 it is now virtually impossible for the Crown Prosecution Service to implement.
So what would you do? You’d pledge to get rid of the 'detail' within the law, and have the whole lot tightened up. That’s what you’d do.
We (the hunters) want to be rid of the Hunting Act 04 proclaiming it doesn’t work; they (the antis) not only want to keep the Act, they are also gunning to have the Exempt Hunting and Legal Hunting clauses removed: take away the ambiguity; take away the doubt. So then it will work. We may have been able to muddle along with the former - but will not be able to operate under the latter. And for those hunts sitting pretty, this is your wake-up call. It is that serious.
It’s easy to speculate with the overview that back in 2004 the majority of MPs and public at large were so fed up of the same old hunting arguments over and over again, and that the best option was to be rid of hunting per say. That would put an end to all these flare-ups.
This is no time for complacency. It’s time to take a grip of the situation. It's time to unite and begin a much more positive PR campaign. To stop all the negative, snarling attacks on the PM and our MPs; and on the Labour Party (many of the latter are staunch supporters of hunting). It is counter productive: it plays right into the hands of those opposed to hunting, and takes us right back to the 2005 days when we lost the case.
We have to get in control of the situation, or this time hunting really could be gone forever. Strength in unity: get as many as possible to join the TMV Network Click Here
Could this happen - or are we scare-mongering?
Emai us: info@themastersvoice.co.uk