Sounding off over bid to ban hunting with hounds

Space will not permit me to record my impressions of that extraordinary day, but I came to one firm conclusion: that the time for set-piece marches and demonstrations against the proposed ban on hunting with dogs should come to an end, for the simple reason that this egregious bill looks certain to become an act; only the timing is uncertain at this stage.

Up until now, the Countryside Alliance's strategy has been focused on bringing pressure to bear on legislators to prevent a ban on hunting reaching the statute book. Phenomenally successful as that has been, a turning point has been reached and a shift in emphasis is called for.

While continuing to drive home its message to the public, it must start to dig in for the long haul. That means preparing to sustain hunting as and when it becomes illegal.

A major part of these preparations must mean a redoubling of its fundraising efforts: funds for the legal challenges to the Parliament Act 1949 and under the Human Rights Act; funds to assist the less affluent hunts; and last but not least funds for legal fees for those who fall foul of the new law and support for their families in the event that they are imprisoned for repeated defiance.

This affront to liberty, livelihood and minority rights can be defeated. For an example, we can look to Mahatma Gandhi. His and his followers' quiet and peaceful civil disobedience, by simply ignoring unjust law, made a major contribution to the demise of the British Raj.

For inspiration, we can find it in the repeal of the Volstead Act, which brought an end to Prohibition (on the sale of alcohol) in America in the 1930s, because it proved to be unworkable and unenforceable.

For my part, come what may, I will continue to hold lawn meets for the Hampshire Hunt and to allow them to hunt on my land, as I have done for more years than I can remember.

-Earl of Portsmouth (pictured), Farleigh Wallop.

Sir.-I feel the Government has used the Hunting Bill for political manoeuvring for the last seven years.

The present Bill is no exception. In my opinion, it has nothing to do with animal welfare, as the fox will still be controlled by alternative methods.

After two lengthy and costly enquiries, which found control using hounds no different in terms of welfare to any other method, Alun Michael seems determined "to do away with this barbaric pastime".

What rubbish! It will not save the life of a single fox, but will result in the destruction of thousands of hounds and horses, along with a way of life for many rural communities.

-J Crosbie Dawson, Northington Farm, Overton.

Sir.-A copy of a recent letter to Tony Blair:

I hope you will be interested in my views on hunting, as an office worker who has no involvement with hunting of any type.

For the first time in my 26 years, I saw two foxes the other morning and was truly amazed. What I saw were two creatures living free in the wild, as they should, and hunting for food.

But I also know the other side to these animals - the side that breaks into chicken runs and kills for what appears to be "fun", as they don't always take all that they kill.

I have never been on a fox hunt so I am not qualified in making such a tough decision (how about you Mr Blair, did you make it out last Boxing Day?)

I agree with fox hunting. My decision was made from reading various pieces and speaking to people on both sides (I went to agricultural college, and was on an animal care course, which means I have worked and studied alongside anti and pro-hunt people).

How about you Mr Blair? How did you come to this important decision about the lives of hounds and the livelihoods of hundreds of good, honest folk?

I know I started by saying how amazed I was at the sight of two foxes living in the wild, but I understand, and have seen, the devastation which foxes cause.

The statistics I read said that hunts kill 20 per cent of foxes. This is nothing, and I will still get to see foxes living wild if the hunt continues... and long may it continue.

What I would like to say to you, Mr Blair, and all these people who disagree with the killing of "innocent" foxes, is "Do you eat meat? Do you know where your meat comes from?" I bet most of you eat meat that comes from an intensive farmed situation.

This is what Labour should make priority.

I agree with the pro-hunting slogan seen at country fairs at the weekend, which slams Tony Blair. I just wish I could get hold of a badge - I would wear it with pride.

Never before have I felt so strongly about a political party. Labour will never get my vote.

-Claire Spencer, Water Ridges, Oakley.

Sir.-Last week, we were given the rare opportunity to witness the nearest thing to a real fox hunt.

In Parliament Square, were all the characters that one sees chasing foxes around the countryside during the hunting season.

At the back were the riders - their horses at home. Scurrying among the crowd were the young bloods trying desperately to control the "hounds" up ahead. At the front were the baying hounds - ably performed by the gamekeepers and hunt servants.

The quarry this time, however, was not an exhausted and frightened fox but a line of young policemen who had no intention of being "run to ground" without resisting.

How unedifying it was when these "country sportsmen" were then seen to be whingeing and whining that the "quarry" had the audacity to fight back - obviously something that they are not accustomed to experiencing during a real fox hunt!

-John Dunn, Wykeham Drive, Basingstoke.

Sir.-As a young man I was impressed by a quotation from Oscar Wilde: "The unspeakable in full pursuit of the inedible" (A Woman of No Importance - 1893). I don't think I have changed my mind about hunting since coming across this 40 years ago.

It now appears that those against a ban are clutching desperately at all sorts of straws to try to go against the will of the majority of the people who have elected a Parliament that has decided, and was committed, to abolish hunting with dogs.

They say they are entering a war "between the countryside and the Government" (quote from the Countryside Alliance). If that is true, I am more than happy to be counted on the majority side with the Government.

It is also said that it is a fight for preserving jobs and liberties. How come I missed these same people protesting against the loss of whole communities under the Tories in mining villages in the mid-1980s?

Then there is the issue of obeying the law. We all have to obey laws, even those we don't like or find inconvenient. If the protesters become law-breakers, I hope the police will treat them the same as they do the organisers of, for example, cock fighting.

-Joe Robertson, Downsland Road, Basingstoke.

Sir.-I have gone off the police. I have always respected them, but I was in Parliament Square last week, surrounded by the massed ranks of this country's finest.

I was not at all happy about the way they waved their batons at anyone who even looked at them funny. They seemed to be there to make trouble; we were there to make a peaceful protest.

They told me they were there for my protection. If they were defending me from an enemy, they would be facing my enemy, not lined up looking at me.

The riot squad were getting tooled up when I left, but when asked what trouble they had seen, they pointed to smoke bombs being thrown about by animal rights fanatics. Yet they lined up looking at me, under orders to make a political point to serve those who pay them - with our money.

Police horses were waiting in the wings, roads blocked to stop us leaving peacefully, and to stop our access to our own elected representatives in the Houses of Parliament.

The police denied my right of free speech and tried to deny our rights of free association. This is what Tony Blair has done to my country.

Tell me, anti-hunting, shooting and fishing people - what will you do about the mink in our rivers when the mink-hounds have gone and no longer patrol the Loddon and the Thames?

Will you let them make the kingfishers and water voles extinct under your very noses, or do you intend to have strychnine put into our freshwater rivers to clear them?

And tell me quietly.

-Sue Doughty, Malvern Close, Woodley.