The disgraced MP for Runcorn and Helsby, Mike Amesbury, criticised the Hunting Act (2004) on the same day that he was sentenced for assaulting a constituent.
In a written question to the Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Amesbury asked, “if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of strengthening the provisions of the Hunting [Act] 2004”
Luckily for Amesbury, the question had been pre-submitted, as that morning he had been sentenced to ten-weeks' imprisonment for assaulting Paul Fellows, 45, in the Cheshire town of Frodsham last October.
Amesbury, who had the Labour whip removed shortly after the assault, is yet another high-profile example of how critics of trail hunting try and fail to occupy the moral high ground.
In January, fellow ex-Labour MP Ivor Caplin was arrested for attempting to meet with a 15-year-old boy he had allegedly been grooming online. Caplin is a lifetime honorary member of the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) and as veterans minister in 2005 tried to ban trail hunting on Ministry of Defence land.
More recently, members of the Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs group tried to pressure local charity Society Without Abuse (formerly Swindon Domestic Abuse Support) to return a £2,500 donation from the Beaufort Hunt, potentially depriving local women of much-needed support against domestic violence.
A poster child for the Labour Party’s campaign against trail hunting, Amesbury had been drinking in town on the night of 26 October before being approached by Fellows to complain about the closure of a local bridge.
CCTV footage showed that Amesbury knocked his constituent to the ground before punching him a further five times in the head and shouting “You won’t threaten your MP again will you.”
Amesbury, who shockingly will continue to collect his £91,000 salary as an MP, has already appealed the sentence. If no appeal is granted, a recall petition will automatically be triggered, which could result in a by-election if more than 10% of constituents sign up.
In response to Amesbury’s written question, Minister for Nature Mary Creagh said, “The Government has already committed to a ban on trail hunting which will provide significant protections to wild animals including foxes and hares.”
Labour included a promise to reform the Hunting Act in its 2024 election manifesto, prompting outcry from rural groups and countryside campaigners. In December, the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) accused the government of “listening to the propaganda put out by our opponents”.
Increasingly, it seems that those opponents are of morally dubious character. Just this week, former LACS boss Andy Knott claimed he was forced out of his old job following abuse by animal rights “extremists” within the group.
Knott is now suing the charity for £3 million, claiming that the harassment led to his resignation in March last year.
The fact that these campaigners - from violent drunks to alleged pedophiles - feel they are in any position to lecture the people of the countryside is frankly laughable. At a time when Labour's stock amongst rural voters is at an all-time low, the government would do well to abandon its myopic and vindictive crusade against the hunting community once and for all.