"Country sports are a major force for rural good"

Today at 11am, around a quarter of a million people will go to see their local pack of hounds at a traditional Boxing Day meet. Fourteen years on from Labour’s hunting ban, some 250 packs of foxhounds, harriers and beagles are still going strong, adapting to legislation which tried but failed to wipe them off the rural map.

Some people will be mounted on horses, but thousands more will simply be there on their feet, greeting friends and loving the sight of the happy hounds. These classless bonds of friendship, the social glue in so many rural areas, are one of the many reasons why hunting has endured.

If the past decade was about hunting coming to terms with the ban, the decade to come should be about securing the place of the sport in its new, lawful incarnation.

The recent election saw the most serious threat to country sports for years. Islington Labour’s hatred of the sight of anyone on a horse, plus a foolish flirtation with animal rights groups, drove them to threaten an extreme change to their own Hunting Act which would have criminalised the owners of dogs which chased squirrels.

Labour wasn’t going to stop there. Shooting, too, was in their sights – the first time a major political party had targeted the sport. There were even to be restrictions on horse racing. Country people can breathe a sigh of relief that Jeremy Corbyn was so comprehensively beaten and that this imminent threat was seen off. But we will be making a serious mistake if we do not understand the risks to our sports which remain.

The election of a Conservative government with a stable majority and a pledge not to change the Hunting Act has given the countryside an unexpected breathing space. We must not waste this opportunity. The case for country sports must be comprehensively rebuilt.

Our defence will rest on three pillars: science, standards and social licence. First, we must demonstrate the evidence that country sports play a major role in conservation and species management, pouring millions of pounds into protecting and enhancing the natural world. We must show the economic contribution of our sports in rural areas, not just in jobs sustained but through investment in natural capital to the benefit of all.

There is a fundamental difference between proper animal welfare measures, to which we should all subscribe, and an animal rights ideology which would end with bans on meat-eating and pet ownership. Effective conservation measures frequently require sensible species management, as the RSPB – which controls foxes to protect birds like the lapwing on its reserves – knows but prefers not to say.

The second S in our defence requires upholding the highest standards of conduct in country sports, which will mean tougher governance and zero tolerance of stupid behaviour. Unlawful practices, such as killing raptors, to which blind eyes may once have been turned, must today be called out. Where necessary our conduct must further adapt.

Only with a resolute standards agenda will we earn the third S which we need to protect country sports – social licence. Our sports may take place on private land, but they are in the public eye, and they cannot continue without public acceptance.

A professional defence of country sports will require far more resources than it has so far received. The multimillion pound sporting industry has not contributed sufficiently to the cause, and spending by malevolent animal rights groups far exceeds the amount we are currently devoting to our cause. Many rural people are generous with their time and contributions. Others are giving only a fraction of what they spend on their recreation, if at all. Like the countries which expect Nato’s protection but will not foot the bill, they need to wake up or find that their shield is not there.

Country sports face unprecedented pressures. Urban encroachment, aggressive animal rights groups, thuggish saboteurs, populist campaigns and social media storms batter us. Too many politicians do not understand us. Yet hunting and shooting have never been more popular in terms of participation. And that presents a huge opportunity.

Our goal should be to move country sports from a position of defensive posture to positive promotion. The contribution which our sports make to nature, conservation, recreation and the countryside is immense. They are not just a part of our rural heritage which is worth preserving: they are powerful, active contributors to rural well-being.

If we act wisely, we can stop apologising for country sports and start celebrating our role. We are the original greens. We love what we do, we care for the countryside, and we are a force for rural good. So go down to your village green or town centre today, be one of the thousands simply enjoying the spectacle of the traditional Boxing Day meet, and know that you are joining the countryside’s champions.

This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Boxing Day 2019