Fox Hunting
I've been worrying about this all weekend. Even if the cries of 'civil war' come to nothing there is lots of talk about blockading London and the M25, which doesn't sound very pleasant.I've therefore come up with a solution that keeps the whole thing within the Right, and which could perhaps be policed by the Conservative Party.
The Burns Report found that 25% of people living in the country or semi-rural areas were aware of hunters causing havoc, e.g 12% of trespassing on private land (out of only 28% who were aware of hunting at all). The Report stated boldly:
There are too many cases of trespass, disruption and disturbance
We also know thatmany Conservative MPs, supporters, and I imagine many in the Countryside Alliance support plans for a "Tony Martin Law". Three of them tried to introduce one in Parliament. At the time I remarked:
The bill would give householders the right to use "any act" against another person "who is in the dwelling, or attempting to gain access to the dwelling (which includes gardens) " if he or she believes [whether 'reasonably or not'] that that act is "to preserve or protect property".
So as The Economist would say, the solution is simple. Give a few counties both Tory policies (not banning fox hunting, introducing a "Tony Martin" law), then watch as the Tony Martin Tories shoot (legally) the Hunting Tories.
posted by Matthew @ 9/20/2004 08:16:00 AM
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