So true Ann...so true.
I read somwhere in a British outdoors magazine, that among lots of positive spinoffs from the fox hunt, was also maintenance of the landscape.
Fences, hedges, draining canals...all sort of things was financed and kept in order, full or partly financed by fox hunting.

The serious part is undoubtly, the wedge wich is driven inn in the right to hunt, shoot and stalk the abundance of wildlife wich pr. to day is accessible.

I�m afraid we will see a decline in the access to hunting, especially in rural Europe / British Isles.

One of the last frontiers in North-Western Europe seems to be Finland, Sweden and Norway, where there is still wilderness and space.
As long as it lasts.

There are 10 packs in Scotland, and over 200 in England/Wales. Hopefully all the talk of civil disobedience will be more than just talk. They don't hold enough votes to swing a parliamentary election, but all the landowners could make life tough in all sorts of ways...

I'd like to think you're right, I used to enjoy following the hunt myself (mostly the Garth & South berks), and I'd also like to see TB kicked out and a proper political party in power........I can certainly see Labour losing the next election, (hopefully) but I doubt very much that we will see the hunting fraternity doing much more to battle the ban. The most they will probably do is go to the European court of Human Rights.......and I wish them the very best of luck. I truly do, but I doubt very much that they'll have any success.

If the British sporting fraternity had any sense they would not have held the big London rally when and how they did. It got a lot of publicity in the UK, but they could have achieved so much more. As far as I'm concerned it was a typical example of the British "politeness" and reluctance to offend. What I think they should have done was to organise as many hunters, shooters and country people etc to DRIVE into London in midweek and then all abandon their vehicles around the houses of Parliament and other key places and bring London to a grinding halt (preferably for days)......if everyone had joined in and had trucks, trailers, tractors, horses and hounds demonstrating all over the place then it would have made headline news around the world and REALLY shown the politicians how seriously they viewed the threat of having their sport banned......instead they opted to have a march (albeit a very big march) on a weekend and even kept to one side of the road to ensure the traffic wasn't disrupted too much.

People may or may not like the French and their way of doing things, but just take a look at how their farmers and truckers stuff things up when they're dissatisfied with something.

I'm a Brit myself, but this fear of causing offense and natural politeness etc will ensure that sooner or later the Brits will lose ALL their countrysports completely. I hope it doesn't happen, but I fear it will.

At the end of the day, history has proven (as a great man said) that all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. You have to stand up and be prepared to fight for what you believe in and if you don't, then some miserable bugger will take it away from you.

......and that's a large part of the reason I decided to come and live in Africa .

shakari,

All hunting has been banned including beagleing, mink hunting, hare coursing (with long dogs not beagles) etc...

it's a sad day for civil liberty here in the UK, but I disagree with you about the people stopping hunting.

Hunting was banned in Scotland a couple of years ago and there has been ongoing civil disobedience. Here in England and Wales, the hunts presece in rural communities is much stronger than it was in Scotland. I think civil disobedience will be widespread and I for one support it. the ban is unenforcable and these people feel strongly enough to do it.

I personally don't hunt but I shoot, stalk, and fish in all it's guises. Lamping wil be next along with game rearing.

No foxes will have been saved by this ban. My .243 and Mr hornaday will see to that along with thousands of others...

Thanks to all for their support.

Regards,
FB

For all you Brits out there, spread the word...it looks like the IOC visit to London and the whole London bid for the Olympics in 2012 is going to be targeted for disruption now!!

yes , its a real loss for the culture in general. this f..king mistake begun in 1914 when britain starts his interference in continental europe affairs.
90 years later the commies are allmost everewhere, I call it karma.
poor Blaristan

shakari,

I tend to agree that we've been too polite and that is a typical failing especially as people involved in fieldsports tend to be decent law abiding folks on the whole.

Having said that, I think (I hope!)that the gloves will come off now and some of what you mention will take place. There is also talk of many landowners with drawing co-operation from the Government ie by not letting the MOD use there land ect.

I think TB knows this is a huge can of worms that he can well do with out opening now!

regards,

Pete

shakari,

I think you underestimate the strong feelings of the pro hunters on this. My feeling is pretty much that of FB's...Teflon Tony is going to have a major headache in the run up to the elections...It has already got to the point where one or two Ministers have had to call off public appearances because they are being hounded (pun intened!) by pro hunters.

The major problem I see is that we do not have an effective Opposition party...If the Tories were in better shape, TB would not have a cat in hells chance of re election as he has just p*ssed both too many different section of the British public over different issues.

With regards to the ban we still have a couple of legal avenues to explore the major one being that the last amendment of the Parliment Act was driven through with out the consent of the Lords.

How much chance that stands of succeeding, I don't know. If it is appealed all the way to the top so to speak, the highest court of the land is the Law Lords but that would seem to be a conflict of interests!

Gabriel, Can you shed any light on the legal side of things?

regards,

Pete

Bog,

Hey... very true. Land owners can make life very difficult if they want. A friend took on a 1000 acre stalking lease yesterday and went round with one of the land owners to view the ground. The owners had all decided that anyone that wanted to come on their land would have to go get a court order. Be it the electrical company, water gas or anyone else. This and other action in the next 6 onths will HOPEFULLY destroy Blairs position.

Of course another low life will turn up to to fil his shoes and we'll still be on the defensive... The day my sport dies is the day I move abroad. Quite handy I have an Irish girlfriend...

FB