Theresa May pledges free vote on foxhunting
Prime Minister tells supporters she has always been in favour of hunting and wants parliament to have a fresh say
Theresa May has promised MPs a free vote on foxhunting if the Tories win the general election.
Speaking in Leeds, the Prime Minister said she had always been in favour of hunting and would campaign to deliver on a long-term party goal to make it legal again.
"We have had a commitment previously as a Conservative Party to allow a free vote and that's what it will allow," she said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, welcomed the news, saying the 2004 Hunting Act, which bans hunting foxes and other wild animals with dogs in England and Wales, "continues to cause real problems" and that hunts were "the subject of constant vindictive allegations by animal rights activists, and employees... often investigated and sometimes prosecuted".
He added: "Overturning the ban and allowing properly conducted hunting with dogs to restart would correct an historic injustice and get rid of one of the most illiberal laws passed in modern times."
May's commitment will be welcomed by grassroots supporters in the party's heartlands after fears she was poised to drop the measure from the Conservative manifesto. Nevertheless, it "will dismay some modernising Tories", says the Daily Telegraph, citing MPs who argue it was best confined to history along with other policies "like hanging".
Eduardo Goncalves, director of the League Against Cruel Sports, asked: "Are we really going to turn the clock back to a time when killing animals for fun was legal?"
Animal charity the RSPCA also said the ban had the support of 84 per cent of the public.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Week Unwrapped: Are we any closer to identifying UFOs?
Podcast Plus, will deals with Tunisia and Kurdistan help Labour? And what next for the Wagner Group?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 16 - 22 November
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures Firing shells, burning ballots, and more
By Anahi Valenzuela, The Week US Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published