Sir, - Recently The Irish Times carried a letter from John
Fitzgerald, the well known animal rights activist, in which he referred to the Countryside Rally in Hyde Park on July 10th and to the possibility that the new Labour Government in the UK may support a bill to ban hunting with hounds. I would appreciate an opportunity to clarify some of the inaccuracies arising from John Fitzgerald's letter.
Firstly, on June 23rd Mr Nick Brown, chief whip of the UK
government, confirmed that:
(i) the bill proposed by backbencher Michael Foster will not receive any government time in the House of Commons;
(ii) the UK government is concerned that flagship legislation could be significantly delayed by arguments over an anti-hunting bill;
(iii) without active government support any proposed bill could be "talked out" during the Commons committee stage.
Subsequently the League Against Cruel Sports (the UK pressure group) issued a statement saying that the committee set up by the
Labour government to scrutinise the backbench bill will "comprise parliamentarians sympathetic to a hunting ban who have been hand picked by Mr Foster." This statement was described by the government's chief whip as "nonsense" (see Financial Times, June
24th).
The fact is that the days of hunting with hounds are far from over in the UK and the threat of a bill to ban hunting, while possible in theory, is unlikely in practice. - Yours, etc., JAMES E. NORTON,
MIIA, Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association,
Newcastle,
Co Dublin