Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP pressures DEFRA to urgently update the Hunting Ban

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Member of Parliament for Clapham and Brixton Hill has joined over 50 parliamentarians in signing a letter to Daniel Zeichner MP, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, urging the government to move swiftly from consultation to decisive action on banning hunting with hounds.

The letter, authored by Neil Duncan-Jordan MP in collaboration with The New Hunting Ban campaign group, highlights that, twenty years after the Hunting Act 2004 came into force, hunting with hounds continues behind the smokescreen of ‘trail hunting’ and calls for a firm legislative response to end what it describes as “another season of suffering.”

Any measures to curtail hunting with hounds will likely prove popular in Clapham and Brixton Hill, where polling shows that support for a change to the law sits at 76%.*

“Alongside the brutal deaths of foxes, stags, hares, and other wild animals; dogs continue to be abused and killed on an industrial scale to facilitate the enjoyment of those who flout the law,” the MPs write. “Polling consistently shows that strengthening the law on hunting is overwhelmingly popular across the country, in every constituency, urban and rural.”

The letter acknowledges the government’s stated intention to consult on banning trail hunting but urges clarity on the timing, scope, and legislative follow-through.

Specifically, it asks the Minister to confirm:

When will the consultation on a trail hunting ban begin, and how long will it run?

Will the consultation consider wider measures to fully end hunting with hounds?

What is the timetable for introducing legislation following the consultation?

The initiative comes as The New Hunting Ban opens their own public consultation on a preliminary list of measures that could be included in recommendations for a final and comprehensive ban on hunting with hounds, beginning with a survey accessible on their website, thenewhuntingban.com.

The New Hunting Ban is a cross-party campaign bringing the voices of animal welfare campaigners, experts, and activists into the corridors of power.

The New Hunting Ban works with parliamentarians from across the political spectrum to develop and push for legislation that will finally end hunting with hounds, as the Hunting Act 2004 intended.

Rhys Giles, Director of The New Hunting Ban, welcomed the letter:

“This is a clear signal to the government that the public are tired of waiting for action on an ongoing outrage that should have been resolved two decades ago.

Representatives from across the country – urban, rural and everywhere in between – are standing up for wildlife, dogs and the countryside. Now we need Defra to do the same.”

*Polling data: FindOutNow/Electoral Calculus (2024)