Cameron asked to come clean over fox hunting stance
Environment secretary Hilary Benn has written to the Tory leader saying the 2004 Hunting Act has worked and is supported by the majority of the population.
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Thursday, 18, Feb 2010 12:47
By Ciara Trudeau.
Five years after the introduction of the hunting ban, the government has increased pressure on David Cameron to confirm he would not attempt to repeal the ban if elected to government.
Environment secretary Hilary Benn has written to the Tory leader saying the 2004 Hunting Act has worked and is supported by the majority of the population.
In his letter, Mr Benn said the controversial act is "popular, humane and effective" and claimed Conservatives are "out of touch" with public opinion.
"Labour banned fox hunting, stag hunting and hare coursing because there is no place for animal cruelty in a modern, civilised society," he wrote.
"The ban has worked and has allowed people to continue riding with hunts without the cruelty previously involved. Five years after its introduction, the RSPCA have said that the Hunting Act compares favourably to other wildlife crime legislation currently on the statute book and is enforceable."
The act, which passed with a large majority, places a number of restrictions on how hunts are carried out. Dogs can still follow a scent and flush out a fox, but cannot kill it.
Conservatives recently reignited the blood sports feud by calling the act "an abject failure" and reiterated their plans to hold a free vote on the issue.
Countryside campaigners consider the ban "an affront to civil liberties" and point out that it has only led to a small number of prosecutions. The Countryside Alliance has called the hunting ban "fundamentally illiberal" and said "such laws should have no place in a modern, tolerant and free society."
However, the ban has a number of high-profile supporters, including Patrick Stewart and Tony Robinson, and wide popular support.
In October, shadow environment secretary Nick Herbert criticised the act, calling it "completely unworkable". He said a Conservative government would consider introducing a regulatory body to oversee fox hunting and work towards "minimising animal suffering".