David Cameron and his pro-hunting allies knew that they didn’t have enough support for a full repeal of the Hunting Act. Not only are 80% of the general population opposed to the idea, many of his fellow MPs are now anti-hunting too.
They are determined to bring hunting back though, and have found another way to do it.
Using something called a Statutory Instrument, which is a secondary legislation used to amend Acts when they require updating, or are deemed not to be working in the way parliament intended, David Cameron is trying to bring hunting back through the back door.
The Statutory Instrument would change the current hunting laws in England and Wales and allow unlimited dogs to “flush out'” foxes. This is currently the law in Scotland, and it is easy to abuse, with recent footage showing hunters out with packs of hounds and no guns.
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David Cameron hopes that by bringing the laws into line with Scottish legislation, he will put the SNP in a difficult position on voting day. He hopes they will abstain, given the hunting laws in Scotland aren’t as tight as they are in England and Wales at present.
However, the SNP had very little input into the 2002 Scottish hunting legislation. They did not hold a majority position back then. Now, however, they are a powerful force in Scotland and in Westminster and given their credentials as a progressive and compassionate party, they have every right to exercise their right to vote next week. Moreover they can take this opportunity to tighten up Scottish hunting laws to bring them into line with the Hunting Act!
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Thousands and thousands of you have already signed, and are getting the SNP’s attention. Thank you! We only have 6 days left to convince them to stand up to Cameron and to vote with their consciences. So if you haven’t signed, do so now, and share it far and wide!
Together we can win this fight!
