Country mag's racist slur on black MP

A MAGAZINE which is a member of the British Field Sports Society, and a vocal supporter of the Countryside March, has delivered an extraordinary outburst against black Labour MP Oona King and her constituents.

The leading article in the Earth Dog-Running Dog publication criticises the MP, an opponent of fox hunting, for being "typical of her species", and claims people living in her East London seat are "drug abusers", "muggers" and "scroungers".

The magazine proclaims itself to be the house journal of terrier men who are an integral part of fox hunts, and those who hunt with lurcher dogs. The magazine carries the logo of the BFSS.

Editor David Harcombe, who wrote the editorial, says he has no regrets. A terrier man with the Cwrtycadno fox hunt in mid-Wales, he said: "I resent Oona King. She is the daughter of some immigrant ... telling us what to do. What right has she got to criticise the people of this country? How dare she attack us when her and her kind are always asking for special privileges for minorities?"

Ms King, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, had appeared on Question Time when she spoke against hunting. Mr Harcombe, the founding editor of the magazine, wrote in his editorial: "Unfortunately she is typical of her species. If she really wants to dictate then let her tell her drug- abusing constituents what to do ... when I was in the forces many years ago ... I often passed through her constituency late at night, on the Tube - could I do that now in safety without the very real risk of being mugged, assaulted, or even murdered?

"I am British and proud of it. We ... are being eroded by all-comers descending on our land and taking advantage of all we have earned for ourselves. They claim 'rights' and then tell us that we have no rights."

Mr Harcombe said the magazine has a circulation of about 4,000. It has trade membership of the BFSS.

Ms King said: "I am appalled by this outburst. I am sure the majority of decent, law-abiding people living in the countryside will be equally appalled. In politics, you learn to accept criticism and even personal insults, but this description of the people living in Bethnal Green and Bow ... is beneath contempt."