Rural election issues: Fox hunting

In the run up to the General Election Farmers Weekly looks at five issues on minds of rural voters. Here arable contractor Antony Sandeman discusses fox hunting.

Antony Sandeman
Arable contractor and joint master of The Crawley and Horsham Foxhounds,
Bolney, West Sussex

“I will be voting for a government that will support a repeal of the Hunting Act. The Act has been a waste of time and money and has done nothing to save the fox – in fact it has resulted in more cruelty.

The Burns enquiry, commissioned by the Labour government to examine the facts about hunting with dogs, made no firm conclusion about whether it was cruel, yet the government insisted on a ban.

If hunting was to be re-introduced, I would support the introduction of an independent regulatory authority to aid in public perception and control.

The next government should also look at a more sensible, less heavy handed way of dealing with gun licenses.

At the age of 17 when most people are applying for a gun license, they have had years of being taught how to use a gun properly and have an established respect. Almost all gun crime is carried out using illegal guns, so I can’t see a problem with applying for shotgun licenses.”