The 2024 Elections

It is difficult to be objective about the merits or otherwise of different Governments, particularly when we know so little about what the incoming Labour Government is going to do with regard to the Countryside, Fieldsports, etc. We have not been blessed (even allowing for Covid, Ukraine and a shortage of money for the Government to spend), by 14 years of Conservative rule. We have in the last few years endured more restrictions on shooting (the Licensing fiascos) than we ever did under Tony Blair, but we do need to remember that it was his Government that bought in the Hunting Act. The then Shadow Rural Affairs Minister promised a total ban on hunting (in contravention of the very specific promises made by the Blair Government with regard to drag and trail hunting)if Labour won the election, and I would have thought that it would be a very brave man indeed who did not think that shooting was going to face a more difficult and indeed uncertain future under the new Government. Hopefully there will be far more pressing things for the new Government to do, than concentrate on this, but with so little money to spend to reward their supporters, we may find that they throw some “scraps” instead and restrictions on shooting, might just be one such scrap. 

I have railed before about Mr Gove’s Rent Bill which sought to ban “no fault evictions” in respect of let housing.

A completely idiotic concept for such an intelligent man to believe in (if he did), which not only would increase the shortage of rental properties and hence increase the level of rents being charged, but would also upset many natural Conservative voters who seem more likely to own let properties than their labour counterparts. Most people would probably think retaining the support of your core voters was worthwhile, but clearly not Gove and co. That Bill has not as promised become an Act before the election, but it is ready for the new Labour Government to dust off and if we are not careful, make a good deal worse (yes that is possible!), perhaps trying to mirror the chaos that the SNP’s own “The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014” North of the Border has achieved. This Scottish Act has made it wholly unattractive for private landlords to let any houses because of the security of Tenure conferred, leading to chaos in the let market in Scotland and a massive shortage of rental houses for people to live in. Watch this space with what is going to now happen in England. I doubt it is any consolation, but we are selling our own let cottages as I fear private Landlords will be in for much more pain under our new regime.

It is easy in the face of all of this to become thoroughly depressed, but we have to remain optimistic and up for the challenges that we are surely going to face with the new lot in power. In terms of shooting and the countryside, I am certain that we must get our act together much much better than we have in the past and that means working very hard indeed, to convince the incoming Government of how important the rural voice is. We have frankly been pathetic at doing that since the Countryside Marches and have in the main left it to the shooting organisations such as BASC and the Countryside Alliance to both plead our cause and defend our interests. I sense a despair amongst many shooting people (and indeed in country people generally whether they shoot or not), with these same organisations. Some of that despair is probably merited, but our organisations are only going to be as strong as the support we give them. I am certain that we have not been anywhere near as proactive both in terms of funding these organisations as we should have been, but also we have not in numbers actively supported them as we should have done. This is going to have to significantly improve knowing what we are now going to face going forward. If we really do want our way of life to continue in the longer term, then merely paying the odd subscription or two is not going to achieve that. We need to get off our proverbials and really get stuck in. We also need our organisations to be much much better organised and with respect run. We are nowhere near where we should be now after 14 years of relatively(?) benign (for our interests) rule. We have not made the inroads into Parliamentary candidates that we should have (and how many changes are we now going to have!). We should be making sure that all prospective Parliamentary candidates (maybe not the Green ones!), are not anti-shooting and the countryside is as it needs to be, a place to live and work in. Unless we each get involved, whatever our political opinions, we will have many many MPs and indeed Councillors, who are anti shooting (and probably fishing as well). It is so depressing to think what we could have done IF we had been better organised and indeed lead in recent years. Instead, we have individually done little and instead left it to the organisations and realistically, they have probably not done a great job. That has to change IF there is to be anything very worthwhile to have left in years to come and particularly for our children to enjoy. One or more political parties on the right will in time emerge with strength; it would be very depressing indeed if we assumed that automatically it/they will be pro our sports and our way of life. If we want it/them to be, we had better make it happen and not rely on others to fight our battles.

Article written by Mark Osborne