We can get Labour’s support for shooting

BASC, and WAGBI before it, have protected and promoted shooting through myriad governments and multiple challenges for the countryside, our sport and way of life. The general election outcome has been dramatic and, given the history, there are understandably concerns that a Labour majority government might be damaging to shooting. However, while the political landscape has shifted, nothing has changed yet on the policy front, so now is the time to get on the front foot. 

In the weeks leading up to the general election BASC ran an online campaign to identify where candidates stood on shooting. Thousands of people used the platform to contact their candidates and we updated constituency pages in real time as replies came in. 

Gaps in knowledge 

Thanks to those supporting the campaign we know the position of some newly elected MPs but there are gaps in knowledge for many more. My MP is Labour and she replied to my email positively, stating: “Labour supports the rights for shooting sports as long as it is carried out within the law.” 

We could each help by getting to know our local MP, whatever their political affiliation, but especially if they’re one of the 412 Labour members. Please invite your MP to see your shoot, clay ground, range or shooting business — many are new to politics and know little of shooting so let’s start them off with a positive and informative experience. You can give your MP a constituency interest in shooting, educating them of the good we do, and you could be a contact point for them to check in with if related topics come up in Parliament. 

BASC’s immediate priority has been contacting newly appointed ministers. Our sponsoring department is Defra — the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — which covers land and wildlife management. The Home Office oversees firearms licensing and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport covers target shooting. Government ministers and their advisers must understand shooting and conservation and the need to consult BASC as a key stakeholder before policies are decided. 

This again is where we could each help. If you are not already a member of BASC, for whatever reason, now is the time to join because the association is without doubt going to be the single most important asset that shooters will have over the next four years. And if you are already a member, thank you so very much for your support, and please encourage others to join your association in fighting for everyone that shoots. 

Strengthening the numbers and resources of our association for working people with an interest in shooting means a bigger and better resourced BASC in countering threats and acting on the opportunities ahead. 

It was a Labour MP who first mentioned support for a 10-year certificate in the House of Commons and we will continue to argue for an extension in certificate life and the benefits of doing so. The previous government agreed to take sound moderators off ticket (News, 6 March), and we will press the new one to do the same. 

Fair deal 

Under the last government, we were part of a Home Office working group on firearms fees and that work is expected to resume. Any recommendations would go to public consultation and we will campaign hard for a fair deal. We will push for the publication of the England deer management strategy, and if the food procurement review resumes, we will make the case for getting more game meat on the nation’s tables. 

Labour has built its electoral success on the promise of change and that needs to include a better understanding and appreciation of the social, environmental and economic benefits of shooting. 

At last year’s Labour Party conference Steve Reed (now a Defra minister) gave a clear endorsement of “sustainable shooting conducted according to the law”. I hope the new Government will back shooting if we engage positively.