SIR – The issues that Labour MPs propose to legislate on in an allegedly ambitious change in the country’s approach to animal welfare tell you everything about their lack of knowledge.
They will stop hounds following an artificial scent (Letters, December 28). What benefit does that bring to animal welfare?
They propose a close season for the shooting of hares, which in practice is already observed except where their population is at very high levels due, perversely, to game shooting interests.
They will ban snare traps while ignoring their vital use to limit predator numbers in the preservation of red-listed ground-nesting birds, and they will legislate against some farming practices in the UK and thus risk driving an increase in foreign imports produced by the same methods or worse.
Labour’s scattergun approach is all about shoring up the party’s waning support by pandering to an animal rights agenda and nothing to do with advancing real welfare or conservation concerns. That so many Labour MPs fail to engage with the rural community or attempt to understand the issues is a real disappointment to those of us taken in by the Prime Minister’s assurances prior to the election.
Matthew Higgs
Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
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