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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/10/andrea-leadsom-quiet-foxhunting-animal-welfare
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| Why has Andrea Leadsom gone so quiet on foxhunting? Why has Andrea Leadsom gone so quiet on foxhunting? | |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| It was the dog, or fox, that didn’t bark. During her leadership campaign, Tory MP Andrea Leadsom vowed to hold a vote to bring back foxhunting and declared there was a “need to exterminate vermin, which foxes are”. At her first party conference as environment secretary, Leadsom might have been expected to throw some red meat to the Tory faithful and renew David Cameron’s promise of a free vote on repealing the Hunting Act. Instead, she prattled on about catching rural Pokémon and selling bottled air. | It was the dog, or fox, that didn’t bark. During her leadership campaign, Tory MP Andrea Leadsom vowed to hold a vote to bring back foxhunting and declared there was a “need to exterminate vermin, which foxes are”. At her first party conference as environment secretary, Leadsom might have been expected to throw some red meat to the Tory faithful and renew David Cameron’s promise of a free vote on repealing the Hunting Act. Instead, she prattled on about catching rural Pokémon and selling bottled air. |
| After Leadsom’s appointment, John Bryant, an expert in non-lethal fox deterrence, contacted Defra to ask if its official policy on foxes (they are not a pest) had changed. The department replied: “At a national level, we continue to have no reason to believe that foxes are causing significant losses to the agriculture industry.” | After Leadsom’s appointment, John Bryant, an expert in non-lethal fox deterrence, contacted Defra to ask if its official policy on foxes (they are not a pest) had changed. The department replied: “At a national level, we continue to have no reason to believe that foxes are causing significant losses to the agriculture industry.” |
| It doesn’t sound like Leadsom has much support within her department. More striking is the waning enthusiasm for hunting in her party. | It doesn’t sound like Leadsom has much support within her department. More striking is the waning enthusiasm for hunting in her party. |
| The burgeoning (anti-hunting) Blue Fox group claims the support of more than 55 Conservative MPs. More significantly, perhaps, an Ipsos Mori poll last month for the League Against Cruel Sports found that 73% of Tory voters back the hunting ban. Of the general public, 84% oppose foxhunting, with even more objecting to hunting deer (88%) and hares (91%). It’s not country v city, either: 82% of rural voters oppose hunting. | The burgeoning (anti-hunting) Blue Fox group claims the support of more than 55 Conservative MPs. More significantly, perhaps, an Ipsos Mori poll last month for the League Against Cruel Sports found that 73% of Tory voters back the hunting ban. Of the general public, 84% oppose foxhunting, with even more objecting to hunting deer (88%) and hares (91%). It’s not country v city, either: 82% of rural voters oppose hunting. |
| Conservative MPs with slender majorities ignore these figures at their peril. Blue-blooded foxhunters must grasp one inescapable fact: it is never coming back. People want higher standards of animal welfare. | Conservative MPs with slender majorities ignore these figures at their peril. Blue-blooded foxhunters must grasp one inescapable fact: it is never coming back. People want higher standards of animal welfare. |
| Public disquiet about driven grouse shooting is growing. While moves to outlaw lead shot and snares have been blocked so far, these will be banned. Wise Tories shift with the times. Leadsom’s silence on foxes is her smartest move so far. | Public disquiet about driven grouse shooting is growing. While moves to outlaw lead shot and snares have been blocked so far, these will be banned. Wise Tories shift with the times. Leadsom’s silence on foxes is her smartest move so far. |
| The real gig economy | The real gig economy |
| I paid £8 on Saturday to see the sublime Pictish Trail play at Norwich Arts Centre, arrived unfashionably early and discovered there were four other acts on the bill. Two solo artists, Ginny Dix and Rory Hill, sang beautiful original songs and the other support acts, including the extremely strange Monoganon, were excellent. | I paid £8 on Saturday to see the sublime Pictish Trail play at Norwich Arts Centre, arrived unfashionably early and discovered there were four other acts on the bill. Two solo artists, Ginny Dix and Rory Hill, sang beautiful original songs and the other support acts, including the extremely strange Monoganon, were excellent. |
| Gigonomics refers to an economy where people have “gigs” rather than real jobs, but real gigonomics is even harsher. The solo artists were grateful for £20 and three free cans. Pictish Trail were sleeping in a Travelodge that night and their creative force, Johnny Lynch, makes ends meet by running a record label and a music festival. | Gigonomics refers to an economy where people have “gigs” rather than real jobs, but real gigonomics is even harsher. The solo artists were grateful for £20 and three free cans. Pictish Trail were sleeping in a Travelodge that night and their creative force, Johnny Lynch, makes ends meet by running a record label and a music festival. |
| I’m in awe of their talent and saddened it isn’t better rewarded. When I’m promoting a book, literary festivals often charge an embarrassing amount (I try my hardest to inform and entertain, but £8 for me or five bands? I know which I’d choose). Authors who complain that some literary festivals don’t pay them should probably get out more. | I’m in awe of their talent and saddened it isn’t better rewarded. When I’m promoting a book, literary festivals often charge an embarrassing amount (I try my hardest to inform and entertain, but £8 for me or five bands? I know which I’d choose). Authors who complain that some literary festivals don’t pay them should probably get out more. |
| The hate we’re in | The hate we’re in |
| The writer Anthony Horowitz gave good value for money at the Cheltenham Literature festival this weekend. He claims the Midsomer Murder scripts he once wrote are truer to life than we imagine. “Sherlock Holmes says … that nowhere is more evil than an English village, and I live in Norfolk so I should know,” he said. “English villages are special places where hatred and mistrust and suspicion and anger and bitterness have a natural place to grow.” | The writer Anthony Horowitz gave good value for money at the Cheltenham Literature festival this weekend. He claims the Midsomer Murder scripts he once wrote are truer to life than we imagine. “Sherlock Holmes says … that nowhere is more evil than an English village, and I live in Norfolk so I should know,” he said. “English villages are special places where hatred and mistrust and suspicion and anger and bitterness have a natural place to grow.” |
| Horowitz argues that anger is swept aside by the pace of city life. As a fellow Norfolk village-dweller, I think he’s struck on something with marketing potential. “Norfolk – fresh air to breathe, time to hate” has a nice ring to it. | Horowitz argues that anger is swept aside by the pace of city life. As a fellow Norfolk village-dweller, I think he’s struck on something with marketing potential. “Norfolk – fresh air to breathe, time to hate” has a nice ring to it. |