UK Labour Party Plans A Full Ban On Fox Hunting

UK opposition party Labour has pledged to eliminate fox hunting “within its first term” in power.

Currently, hunting with dogs is illegal in the UK. However, the practice continues under the cover of “trail hunting,” where hounds follow a pre-laid scent.

Reports have shown how, despite the ban, illegal fox hunting continues to have devastating impacts across the UK.

Last year, Scotland introduced new legislation to crack down on illegal fox hunting.

Labour plans to tighten Hunting Act

A fox hides from a hunting party in the UK — Adobe Stock Fox hunting is a cruel and outdated tradition, according to the majority of Brits

Hunting with dogs has been illegal since 2004, when Labour passed the Hunting Act. Since then, attempts by the Conservative Party to lift the ban have come to nothing.

Even so, it remains legal to lay trails using artificial scents, which is widely acknowledged to be a “smokescreen” for actual hunting.

Foxes are “still getting killed as a result of those loopholes and we will close those loopholes,” Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, told The Times.

“It’s time fox hunting was consigned to the history books,” Labour MP Luke Pollard added in a post on X.

UK public opposes fox hunting

The vast majority of the UK public opposes fox hunting.

In recent years, footage from Hunt Saboteur groups has gained widespread media attention and opened more people’s eyes to the cruelty of this “tradition.”

Following on from the channel 4 report that showed how fox hunting is still taking place across the country under the guise of trail hunting. We have continued our fight to stop this on Salisbury plain and have documented time and time again when the RA have been blatantly……. pic.twitter.com/xYik3NgEwc
— Salisbury Plain Hunt Sabs (Moonrakers) (@Plainhuntsabs) April 23, 2023

The UK’s most senior police officer on foxhunting had previously called the current situation unworkable, adding that “the law needs revisiting.”

A change in countryside policy?

A General Election must be held in the UK before January 2025. With Labour comfortably ahead in the polls and expected to form the next government, this could mean protection for foxes and other wildlife within the next five years.

Campaign group Protect The Wild welcomed Labour’s commitment to end fox hunting. However, in a pos t, the group cautioned against attempts at reform.

“It’s all very well saying they’ll ‘toughen the Hunting Act’ but the Hunting Act is inherently flawed and is enabling hunts to continue killing wildlife undeterred.

“The solution is a new proper ban on all hunting with hounds.”