UK General Election 2010 - as it relates to spear fishing

[Mr. X]

Thought it might be worth encouraging forum members that are UK voters (at home & abroad), especially those that are spearos, anglers and/or hunters to vote. If you don't exercise your democratic right to vote, don't be surprised when your freedoms get restricted or removed.

I'll dedicate this one to the MPs of the current Parliament - good bye to bad rubbish, and don't let the door hit you on the way out:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7VsoxT_FUY]YouTube - GEORGE THOROGOOD "Bad To The Bone"[/ame]

First things first. If you haven't done so already, please register to vote: BBC News - How to register to vote

 

[Mr. X]

Last year & before, we campaigned to stop the EU's proposed ban on all spear-fishing in all EU Atlantic waters. It was unintentional, Commissioner Borg assured us, but it almost became law.

During that campaign, different MEPs, MPs & parties responded to us in different ways (I encourage your to go back & look through the discussion thread). Most (but not all) MEPs responded to us. Most (but not all) expressed support or willingness to investigate further. However, there was one notable exception:

I humbly suggest that you DO NOT VOTE GREEN in England and Wales (I am assured that the Scottish Green Party is different, I am told they support fishing & hunting). The Green Party leader for England & Wales, a vegan and former CND campaigner, is opposed to all hunting and fishing. She stated that she would not help us. This despite the fact that spear fishing is the most selective and sustainable* form of fishing. So might I suggest that now is a good time for us not to help her.

*Ref: SPEARFISHING – IS IT ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE?

 

[Mr. X]

Here are some govt. key links to help you register to vote (helpfully provided by the Countryside Alliance):

Registering to vote : Directgov - Government, citizens and rights

About My Vote, produced by The Electoral Commission

Shall we do a party-by-party analysis as the big day approaches? Yes, I think so.

 

[Mr. X]

Here is a link to the thread where the "Greens against spearfishing" discussion arose: http://forums.deeperblue.com/regula...luding-ban-use-projectiles-17.html#post735047

Their leader in England and Wales is [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Lucas"]Caroline Lucas[/ame]. She is hoping to become the MP for Brighton Pavillion in the forthcoming general election. The TV pundits think she has a good chance of winning, against Labour (talk about being "between a rock and a hard place"!).

Here is a copy of the response that SurfNSpear included above (there is also a fuller response on the discussion thread above):

Dear xxxxx,

Thank you for your email of June 23rd concerning spearfishing and conservation measures. Please excuse the very long delay in responding.

Whilst Caroline does recognise that spearfishing is not as destructive as some fishing practices, such as the use of explosives or poisons, the Green Party is opposed to all blood-sports. We oppose the killing of, or infliction of pain or suffering upon, animals in the name of sport or leisure, and will work to end all such practices. As a result, she supports the European Commission's move to outlaw spearfishing and will be joining her Green colleagues in voting in favour of the recommended changes to EU law.

Kind regards,
Cath.

Cath Miller
Constituency Coordinator and Researcher
Office of Dr Caroline Lucas
Green Party MEP for SE England.
...

 

[Mr. X]

What about the incumbent Labour government? What might their position be when regulations concerning spearing, directly or indirectly crop up? Do they legislate carefully, aiming for minimum collateral impact and taking every care not to impact personal freedoms - apparently not, if you consider the suspension of habious corpus rights under anti-terrorism laws (which were laughingly used to arrest an 80 year Labour supporter who heckled a speaker at the party conference).

What is their attitude to field sports, like fishing? At best mixed. A fox-hunting Labour MP does/did head the Countryside Alliance, which campaigns hard against the ban on hunting with dogs...but the Labour goverment did steam-roller that ban into law with their massive majority in parliament, under Tony B'liar.

Some people think of the hunting ban as a ban on foxhunting. However, it was drafted far more broadly than that. It is actually a ban on hunting mammals with dogs:
Hunting with dogs : Directgov - Environment and greener living
Of course fox hunting continues. The fox can be a voracious predator and numbers have always been controlled in the countryside and more recently in cities like London. Not least by shooting/lamping -- the cause of a terrible accident (near Haberton, S. Devon) shortly after the hunting-with-dogs-ban was introduced when a father accidently shot his son, mistaking his glistening eyes for those of a fox .

 

[Mr. X]

What about the Conservatives? Certainly many Conservative MPs are known to enjoy the full range of field sports and country pursuits, as alluded to by their leader David Cameron during a recent interview. Not least fishing.

In fact "Dave" also spoke recently of his love for fishing:

Cameron's commitment to angling

Angling Times magazine scored an interview with Conservative leader David Cameron, published this week, in which he spoke enthusiastically of his love of angling. We don't yet have the plans of other political parties for angling, but in this interview Cameron outlined his plans for the Conservatives should they win the General Election. He said "angling is not only safe, we want to actively promote it... it's a great sport." He went on to say of his Defra team: "These are all people who understand the countryside, who love the countryside, who understand country sports and want to support and promote them. You will have no problem being listened to, being heard, being understood. Also on the back benches, we've got a fair few fishermen".

Apparently he's done some shooting too: David Cameron: I was taught to shoot rabbits by my father | News

The Conservatives have spoken before of their approach to legislation: draft very carefully and specifically. By default, everything is allowed, by law only very specific things should be disallowed.

 

[Mr. X]

From the Countryside Alliance this week:

Election shots
One aspect of the political party's General Election manifestos that has not raised much comment is the commitments, or lack of them, on shooting. In 2005 all three main parties dealt with shooting either in their main manifestos or in rural manifestos. Five years ago the Conservatives promised in their rural manifesto to: "encourage responsible self-regulation of shooting sports" there is no discussion of shooting in this Conservative manifesto. Likewise in 2005 the Liberal Democrats said in their rural manifesto: "we have no plans to introduce any new restrictions on fishing or shooting sports, other than a minimum age limit of 14 for participating in shoots". Again there is no commitment this year. In 2005 Labour said that it would "modernise the outdated game and licensing laws", which it subsequently delivered in England and Wales, and that it would: "work with the relevant bodies to ensure that country sports are protected while ensuring high standards of environmental protection, animal welfare and safety". This commitment has been included, in various forms, in Labour manifestos since 1979 as a counter to the commitment to ban hunting. It is absent from Labour's 2010 manifesto.

Manifestos are an important insight into the thinking of political parties and it is often what they do not include that is as telling as what they do. Once a commitment like the Labour party pledge not to restrict shooting has been made, as it has been for so long, it is legitimate to ask why the party has not made that commitment in 2010. It is also legitimate to ask whether the Conservative commitment to self regulation still stands. As for the Liberal Democrats it is important to confirm that they still have no plans to restrict shooting and whether they have retained the ridiculous prohibition on under 14s 'participating in shoots'.

Ultimately our aim is to remove shooting from the political agenda so a lack of manifesto content should not necessarily be seen as a bad thing. It is, for instance, very gratifying that restrictions on the use of legitimate firearms are no longer seen as a necessary knee-jerk response to concerns about violent crime. The Alliance and other shooting organisations are, however, constantly engaged in the defence of our shooting rights in one area of legislation or other. Even as we speak game rearing, dog ownership, lead shot and the carriage of ammunition are all live political issues. When so many different aspects of shooting can become embroiled in politics the Alliance is here to ensure that no political party can hide an anti-shooting agenda.

 

[Mr. X]

...
I humbly suggest that you DO NOT VOTE GREEN in England and Wales ... opposed to all hunting and fishing.

Of course, while it might not be safe to vote Green in this election, it might be a good time to join the Green Party so that you can influence their policies in future elections .