Fox hunting banned

[London Man]

The Parliament Act's been activated. The ban starts in February.

[Sibboleth]

A. Toss. I. Couldn't. Give.

[??????????]

This is terrible. Its a great tradition with a long history. But I guess the great "democracy" of Britian couldn't allow this anymore.

[Richard]

Such upstanding defenders of civil rights they are, dem Brits.

[True Federalist]

I strongly suspect that the population of foxes and other wildlife in Britain will be lower in 20 years than now.  Quite simply, no hunting allowed means that the land owners will have less incentive to not put the land to other use or change to farming practices that are antagonistic to hedgerows and brushbreaks.  The quail population here in South Carolina has undegone a sizable decline in the past generation because of loss of habitat as farming practices have changed.

[Grad Students are the Worst]

Doth! I surmise that Lord Pennington will be most very disambulated!

[Sibboleth]

I strongly suspect that the population of foxes and other wildlife in Britain will be lower in 20 years than now.  Quite simply, no hunting allowed means that the land owners will have less incentive to not put the land to other use or change to farming practices that are antagonistic to hedgerows and brushbreaks. 

Hunting with dogs does not create an incentive to keep hedges

[patrick1]

While I am not a fan of the traditional aristocracy, I must say that I think this is a pretty stupid law.  Misplaced retribution IMO.  There can't be that many bunny huggers in England can there?

[lidaker]

Perhaps America too should ban FOX.

[Sibboleth]

While I am not a fan of the traditional aristocracy, I must say that I think this is a pretty stupid law.  Misplaced retribution IMO.  There can't be that many bunny huggers in England can there?

It's a stupid law about a stupid issue. Personally I think if there weren't a couple of attempts to ban it in the '40's and '50's it'd have died out anyway.

I'm still suprised at what the inbred fools in the House of Lords did though... I had always thought that the whole point of Upper Houses is to water down and ammend bills passed by the Lower House that havn't been thought through that well...

[English]

I strongly suspect that the population of foxes and other wildlife in Britain will be lower in 20 years than now.  Quite simply, no hunting allowed means that the land owners will have less incentive to not put the land to other use or change to farming practices that are antagonistic to hedgerows and brushbreaks.  The quail population here in South Carolina has undegone a sizable decline in the past generation because of loss of habitat as farming practices have changed.

Actually there are 10 times as many urban foxes in the UK than rural foxes. I've seen lots of foxes in the city, but none in the countryside.

[English]

I can understand why this confuses non-Brits. It's really got little, if anything to do with foxes or hunting.
It's 95% to do with class and the enormous gulf between liberal urban Britain and conservative rural England.
Basically newly empowered urban Britain is still angry at the Tory voting rural areas for the Thatcher years which destroyed it's steelworks, coalmines and heavy industry. It's merely payback, it's as simple as that.
The UK is an extremely class ridden society. Everything that happens here is invariably related to class.
Foxes really have got nothing to do with it, despite what others may say.

[patrick1]

I can understand why this confuses non-Brits. It's really got little, if anything to do with foxes or hunting.
It's 95% to do with class and the enormous gulf between liberal urban Britain and conservative rural England.
Basically newly empowered urban Britain is still angry at the Tory voting rural areas for the Thatcher years which destroyed it's steelworks, coalmines and heavy industry. It's merely payback, it's as simple as that.
The UK is an extremely class ridden society. Everything that happens here is invariably related to class.
Foxes really have got nothing to do with it, despite what others may say.

The class thing has always interested me.  A good friend of mine in college was from Twickenham.  He was pretty posh- upper middle class here in U.S..-Dad from Wales and Lib Dem supoter but he hung out with a lot of "Cockneys" for lack of a better word.   He explained to me how you would affect a different speech pattern depending on who you talked to.   
The difference was that in the US it tends to be race and in the UK it is class that is the primary dividing line.  As for Thatcher destoying heavy industry, I disagree.  The industries you mentioned were on the decline before Thatcher and were not economically viable.  You fail to make a profit and then you fail to exist.  Same thing happened here in the US.  It is very sad that people lose their jobs but you have to adapt to economic realities.  I feel like singing Christy Moore's Ordinary Man right now.  Best pro-labour song ever IMO.

[Sibboleth]

As for Thatcher destoying heavy industry, I disagree.  The industries you mentioned were on the decline before Thatcher and were not economically viable.  You fail to make a profit and then you fail to exist.  Same thing happened here in the US.  It is very sad that people lose their jobs but you have to adapt to economic realities

Actually the Coal and Steel industries were economically viable going in the '80's, true Coal had been declining since... ever really... and Steel since the post-war boom, but the cynical closure programme of both was politically motivated.

Too late to do anything about it now though

[Democratic Hawk]

Lets just say I'm sure the will of the majority has prevailed.

This should have been done and dusted back in 1997!

Dave

[London Man]

Conservative, if you count Liam Fox.

[Peter]

I was amused by the circumstances that lead to the Lords voting against any delay in the implementation of the ban - despite this seeming somewhat like turkeys voting for Christmas to be brought forward, it was actually an incredibly shrewd political move. Certainly the Tories might now enjoy better chances in rural seats in England.

It could all backfire on the pro-hunt movement though: If the Government decide to take them on, and win, Blair then enjoys the same boost that Thatcher did -  defeating people who try to bring the country to its knees is a popular thing to do.

[English]

I doubt it Peter. It may help the Tories in rural England, however unfortunately for them, it'll be in seats they already hold. Labour hold very few rural seats, and the ones they do hold are because of urban inclusions, such as Whitby (Scarborough & Whitby) and Corby.
Most swing voters in metropolitan areas, which contain +90% of the marginals couldn't care less about hunting. Furthermore, if the countryside alliance start blockading roads and clashing with police, Blair will receive an enormous boost, especially in the suburbs with whom law and order is the No. 1 issue.
The pro-hunting lot can only lose whatever their approach.