Pro-hunt lobby must be careful

THE PRO-HUNT lobby must be careful not to do damage to urban perceptions of the countryside and rural people, said Lord Haskins

The Government‘s rural affairs adviser was speaking at the Rural Regeneration Conference in London on Wednesday (October 13).
 
“They can do damage to the way people in urban areas see the rural population,” said Lord Haskins.
 
He said that he himself thought both sides of the hunting debate had been too uncompromising, but warned the pro-hunt lobby their actions may have unintended consequences.
 
“Urban people may start asking themselves why they should pay taxes to a bunch of fairly well off lawbreakers in rural areas,” Lord Haskins said.
 
He predicted everbody would be losers from the fox-hunting confrontation unless people started to compromise more.
 
“There are too many uncompromising attitudes, and that is not helpful to the countryside.

“We must work together and not fight each other, and we must overcome the divide between urban and rural people,” Lord Haskins said.