BHSA calls out “two tier” policing in the countryside
The former defence secretary points to incidents where police failed to act against anti-hunt violence, questioning the fairness of enforcement.
Former defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace has said that England’s most senior police officer involved in fighting foxhunting crime “should be removed”, following the officer’s comment that trail hunting is a “smokescreen for illegal hunting”.
Sir Ben, who joined the board of the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) after stepping down from his ministerial position, said there is “a sense of two-tier policing” in the countryside, with hunts not treated the same as hunt saboteurs when it comes to investigating crimes.
Sir Ben said that Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on hunting with hounds crime, declined an invitation to attend the BHSA’s National Trail Hunting Day to discuss issues around hunting and its policing.
The National Trail Hunting Day was celebrated nationwide at 30 locations with up to 1,500 people attending some events. The events aimed to highlight the support and legality of trail hunting as the sport faces a full ban as included in the Labour Party’s election manifesto.
Matt Longman, of Devon and Cornwall Police, has described trail hunting as “a smokescreen for continuing illegal hunting” and said that illegal fox hunting was “prolific” across the country. Referencing Longman, Sir Ben said: “He is supposed to police without fear or favour, and if he can’t then he should be removed because that is part of this debate about two-tier policing.”
Sir Ben said he attended a Boxing Day hunt when defence secretary “and in front of me, and in front of a local police officer, a hunt follower was punched by an anti-hunt sab and the local police did nothing.
“It took my Met Police officer to go over and say: ‘What are you doing about this?’” Sir Ben said. “We want to show this is the legitimate, within the law, way of hunting and recreation with horses and hounds.” Sir Ben also accused Longman of writing off “whole communities”.
Responding to Sir Ben’s comments, Longman said: “Work we are doing now is levelling the playing field, and that in turn is putting unfamiliar pressure on hunts to stop breaking any laws.”
At the recent Labour Party conference in Liverpool, the BHSA were refused a stand yet the League Against Cruel Sports, one of the main organisations that opposes hunting, were given one.
This has opened Labour up to accusations of prejudice, with a BHSA spokesman commenting: “This speaks to the Labour Party’s two-tier hypocrisy and reinforces the sentiment that Environment Secretary Steve Reed does not understand the countryside.”
