GIVING PARLIAMENTARY TIME TO BLOODSPORTS AT A TIME OF AUSTERITY “BEGGARS BELIEF”

Polling published by ComRes shows that 49% of members of the House of Lords would vote in favour of a repeal of the Hunting Act, while 43% would vote against. The charity that led the campaign to ban hunting says it is encouraged by a “massive shift” in peers’ views.

“Ten years ago, in March 2001, a bill to ban hunting failed by 317 votes to 68 in the House of Lords, and it took another three years to get the ban through. These new figures show how the landscape has changed – the balance of opinion in the Lords has shifted massively against hunting,” said Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports.

The polling shows that 85% of peers born since 1960 oppose hunting, compared with 40%of older members.

Figures published today by the League show that a vote in the House of Commons would be lost by a significant majority. 324 MPs have said they would vote against repeal whilst 261 say they would vote in favour. Those opposing repeal include 24 Conservatives. “There is a real sense of shift in both Houses, but with the government committed to a free vote on the issue we cannot be complacent,” said Mr Batchelor. “At a time when everyone’s facing hardship and cuts, it beggars belief that some politicians want to start legalising bloodsports that the vast majority of the public find abhorrent.”

“The modern House of Lords prides itself on really standing up for the views of the public and we have no doubt they’d see sense on this issue,” Mr Batchelor added.

Polling by Ipsos MORI in December found that 76% of the public support the ban on fox hunting, whilst 84% support the ban on hare coursing and stag hunting.