Rural ‘tinderbox’ ready to ignite

THE VOTE to ban hunting with dogs could spark months of civil unrest, according to newspaper reports.

The Daily Mail says that the vote was seen by many who lived in the country, whether they hunted or not, as an assault on a way of life.

It says that behind the protesters were “many millions of perfectly ordinary people who felt that their way of life was under attack”.

England is facing civil war, the paper suggests.

The Independent says the rise of militants in the countryside is a measure of the despair felt over the failure of lobbying.

It warns that there is a steady stream of disillusioned people breaking away from the main countryside bodies to form militant splinter groups.

It quotes the Real Countryside Alliance leader Edward Duke.

“When it comes to it we will want to set fire to motorways and DEFRA offices. We can do naughty things,” Mr Duke says.

The Times refers to the countryside as a tinderbox and reports that the RCA is planning to disrupt water supplies and bring down power lines.

The newspaper also focuses on the Countryside Action Network, led by former Countryside Alliance member Janet George.

She says that the network can boast a membership of 4500.

And Ms George says while the group avoids violence it is “planning something very, very big”.