Review biased in favour of status quo, say opponents

Anti-hunt campaigners have accused the Government of bias in their consultation on the future of foxhunting.

A group of Labour MPs has written to Alun Michael, the minister responsible for the review of the laws on hunting, complaining that his planned consultation process – due to begin later this month – favours the pro-hunt lobby.

Mr Michael has made it clear that equal air time will be given to those against a ban on hunting, those in favour and the "compromise" option, the Middle Way group.

But the eight Labour backbenchers, led by anti-hunt campaigners Tony Banks MP and Gordon Prentice MP, and the anti-hunting campaign as a whole, regard the Middle Way group as firmly in the pro-hunting camp.

Their letter insists that the representation of views and evidence at the public hearings would be "imbalanced" in favour of the Countryside Alliance and the Middle Way.

Evidence has been released linking leading figures in the Middle Way group to lucrative hunts. A recent edition of the Heythrop Hack – a hunt supporters' magazine – names Richard Schuster, who funds the Middle Way group, as deeply involved in the Heythrop hunt. He and his family are active participants in the hunt and meetings of the hunt take place on his premises. Mr Schuster was also involved with the Four Shires Basset Hounds, and at the time of the Burns Inquiry into hunting with dogs was the chairman of the Masters of Basset Hounds.

A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports said: "The Middle Way group is no more and no less than a strategy for hunting to continue. It would not end the cruelty of the chase and it would not end the cruelty of the kill. It is a scandal that hunting interests are being given two bites of the cherry at the public hearings."

They end by demanding a clear and positive signal from the Government on the issue as the party conference season begins.

However, pro-hunting groups have also cried foul after reports that the Government was preparing a compromise Bill that would outlaw most forms of hunting with hounds but would provide for licensed hunting. It would then be amended and pushed through both Houses of Parliament to ensure an absolute ban.