Theresa May 'abandons plan to give MPs chance to overturn fox hunting ban'
During the General Election, Theresa May said she is in 'favour of fox hunting' and spoke of a House of Commons free vote on the future of the ban
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May will reportedly abandon her Conservative general election manifesto pledge to give MPs a free vote on whether to overturn the fox hunting ban.
According to the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister will in early 2018 announce plans to permanently drop the commitment to a House of Commons vote, in a move which would risk infuriating rural Tories.
A Downing Street source described the report as “pure speculation”, but reiterated the Government's position: “There is no vote that could change the current policy on fox hunting scheduled in this session of Parliament”, which ends in 2019.
Michael Gove has prioritised animal welfare issues since Mrs May appointed him Environment Secretary after the June election.
But Jeremy Corbyn repeatedly criticised Mrs May for saying she was in favour of fox hunting during the election, which shattered the PM's authority after the Tories lost their Commons majority.
The Tories had pledged in their manifesto to hold a free vote on a Bill in Government time to allow Parliament to decide the future of the Hunting Act 2004.
During a factory visit to Leeds during the election, Mrs May said: “As it happens, personally I have always been in favour of fox hunting, and we maintain our commitment, we have had a commitment previously as a Conservative Party, to allow a free vote.”
But the policy's omission from the Queen's Speech, which outlined the legislative programme for the current parliamentary session of 2017 until 2019, was the first indicator the plan had been put on the back burner.
The law, introduced by Labour in 2004, bans the use of dogs to hunt foxes and other wild mammals in England and Wales.
League Against Cruel Sports chief executive Eduardo Goncalves said: “It's nearly 2018, not 1818, so it's a little strange we're celebrating because a government has renounced fox hunting. But yet, this is still good news.
”There's been a shift this year, as the government has realised quite how important it is to recognise the compassionate nature of the British public.
“The cynical will say that this statement won't hold in the future when the pro hunting lobby exerts its influence once more, so we shall have to see if an anti-hunting stance is indeed the future of the Conservative party, or a tactical move at a politically sensitive time.
“For the sake of our animals we hope it's the former.”
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments