'This isn't compassion' – Benn backs hunting ban
Labour will fight the Government's attempts to reverse the hunting ban, Hilary Benn told the party conference yesterday.
The shadow environment secretary used his keynote speech to ridicule the coalition's claim that it is compassionate. He said: "Really? It wants to bring back the barbarous spectacle of fox and stag hunting, and hare coursing to our countryside.
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"Mr Cameron, this isn't compassion – it's animal cruelty and we will oppose it every step of the way."
He added: "David Cameron tells us we are all in this together. Really? If that's so, then why are you determined to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board?
"For 70 years it has ensured a fair deal and fair pay for farm workers, overtime rates, standby allowances, bereavement leave – even Mrs Thatcher did not dare to do this.
"All in this together, Mr Cameron? No. This is a shabby little plan and we will oppose it every step of the way."
Mr Benn said the Government was "about to unveil cuts that will surely affect farming and the natural world".
Comments
by Simon Henly, Eastington
Saturday, October 02 2010, 6:06PM
“Fox hunting has about as much to do with pest control as badger culling has to do with disease control.
It is all about country bumpkins and snobs carrying on their own little minded way regardless of how society has moved on around them.”