Submission by Baroness Mallalieu
Both the Countryside Alliance, of which I am President, and the Labour supporters' 'Leave Country Sports Alone' campaign, of which I am Chairman, have made separate submissions to your Inquiry. This submission is therefore a personal one based on my own experiences as a regular follower of both staghounds and foxhounds and as an active campaigner on behalf of hunting for over 30 years. If I may, I would like to address my submissions to the question of the impact which hunting has on our society and culture and the effects of a ban on those things.
I receive many letters on the subject of hunting, approximately 10% of which are from opponents. Following the Hyde Park rally in July 1997 I received over 2,000 letters of support and only 4 against. With very few exceptions the letters which I receive from opponents fall into one or more of five distinct categories:
The writer maintains that it is wrong for people to kill wild animals at all; that fox and deer populations will balance themselves naturally;
2. That foxes are deliberately bred, transported and released for hunting;
3. That foxes and deer are torn to pieces by hounds while they are still alive and conscious;
4. That terriermen engage in the deliberate baiting of foxes and/or throw foxes alive to hounds;
5. That those who hunt derive pleasure from animal suffering and/or killing.
Because I believe each one of these objections to be misplaced, in every case where the writer provides his or her name and address I write back by hand and try to correct the factual inaccuracies. In a significant number of cases there is further correspondence which results in the writer expressing the view that, "if other hunt supporters were like you I would have no objections." As a result of this correspondence I believe that much, if not most, of the objection to hunting is based on a refusal to accept the necessity for any form of culling of wild animals, or factual errors as to how hunting is, in practice, conducted, or refusal to address the alternative methods of killing and consequences for both the animals and people concerned. Little or no direct contact with those who hunt means that the majority of the population, and most politicians, derive their impressions of hunters and hunting from the extensive advertising and propaganda campaign mounted over many years by the animal rights movement, and from graphic and sensational coverage by the media where the rules have either been broken or something has gone wrong.
I therefore believe that your Inquiry is both timely and essential to establish the real facts.
I am also convinced that an independent Regulatory body must be put in place as swiftly as possible, to inform the public better as to the rules according to which hunting is conducted, and distinguish between those who operate under regulation and those who do not, and to ensure public confidence that the rules are therefore in fact observed and enforced.
I have hunted regularly for over 40 years and have never seen anyone take pleasure in the death or suffering of an animal in the hunting field. If such conduct took place it would be repugnant to me and I believe to all right thinking people. Invariably the main concern of those responsible is to despatch the animal as quickly and efficiently as possible.
It is not easy to explain the passion which hunting generates among its supporters to those who have no experience of it. In the last three years I have spoken at, or attended most of the major rallies which have taken place: Hyde Park in 1997; Worcester in 1998; Exeter, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Norwich and Cardiff in 1999. I do not believe there is any other issue in Britain today which could generate protest marches on this scale. I cannot overstate the strength of feeling on each of these occasions. The sense of comradeship is palpable.
It is also deeply moving and not unusual to see men in tears. But it is also frightening. These are patently decent law abiding people, many of them old, many women, many children, who are turning reluctantly to direct political action for the first time in their lives because they feel disenfranchised, misunderstood and threatened.
I have no doubt that the consequences of a ban forced through Parliament would in some places be very serious. Defiance of the law would be inevitable - its scale hard to predict. Conflicts within currently tolerant rural communities would unquestionably be generated. Contempt for the law would be widespread including within the legal profession. Rural policing, depending heavily as it does on the active support of the local community, would be seriously damaged. The political and social consequences of a ban are unpredictable, but it is my belief that a deep resentment would be generated in a significant proportion of the community which could last for a generation and have far-reaching implications for those seen as responsible for a ban and for national harmony.
Why do people care so much? To those who go hunting it is far more than a sport. The words I used at Hyde Park which appeared to strike a chord were these:
"Hunting is our music. It is our poetry. It is our art. It is our pleasure. It is where many of our best friendships are made. It is our community. It is our whole way of life."
But those who do not themselves hunt often feel equal passion. Hunting is symbolic of the spirit of the countryside, its rural communities, and a way of life which differs from that of the town. It represents above all the freedom of people to choose a lifestyle which differs from that of the majority and which the majority may not understand or may even dislike or disapprove of. Our nation, although small, contains many different worlds. Some of its older communities have broken down and disappeared in this generation. Support for hunting represents to many from both town and country the right for people to choose a different way of life in our largely urban and suburban Britain.
Although until recently largely unseen, the hunting community has adapted to change and remains extraordinarily strong and resilient. Many people, like me, are first generation hunters.
On Exmoor, where I spend much time, that community is geographically concentrated. Hunting is often described there as "our second religion". That is no exaggeration. The deer in particular are seen as a community resources and studied with a fascination which borders on worship. Hunting is the main topic of conversation in the village shop, post office and pub. "Our deer herd" is protected as a consequence by the whole community.
At my home in Buckinghamshire where I hunt with the Bicester Hunt, that community is more diffuse. But in every village there are families who either hunt regularly or actively support their local pack. After 40 years hunting here there are few villages in the area of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire covered by this pack of hounds where I, or any other member of the hunting community, could not walk unannounced into the kitchen of many houses and be welcomed and receive help if necessary.
In the last month in my area a single father with a child seriously ill in a London hospital found a rota of people from the local hunt travelling over 100 miles a day to sit with him as he waited at the bedside.
Someone else recovering from a serious illness and with little money has found a holiday in the sun paid for as a result of a whip round in the hunt.
Someone ill, or injured, can be sure that the telephone will ring with offers of practical help and support. At a hunting funeral the church will be filled to capacity.
It may feud and gossip and bicker, but the hunting community looks out for its people and rallies round in times of need in a way which is increasingly rare in a rootless modern world.
These people do not just believe that what they do is not cruel. They know it is not. Most of them have lived and worked close to animals all their lives. To destroy this world would destroy them and impoverish our nation.
A. Mallalieu
21st February 2000
House of Lords
London SW1A 0PW
Date uploaded to site 11 May 2000