Eco-campaigners call on Starmer to end fox hunting loophole amid fears over 'ugly culture war'

Labour's election manifesto had included a commitment to ban "trail hunting" - a practice which has long been dogged by accusations of being a "smokescreen" for standard fox hunts - which have been outlawed since 2005.

And now, the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) has spoken out, urging Defence Secretary John Healey to move to block the renewal - currently slated for September 1 - of trail hunting licences on MoD land.

LACS's acting chief executive Chris Luffingham said: "The league has long campaigned to see trail hunting ended on MoD land, and now the new Government has its first chance to make a positive change for foxes with a simple sweep of its pen.

"To renew these licences would fly in the face of their manifesto promise to scrap this so-called sport entirely, especially as they are issued personally by the Secretary of State."

The MoD had dished out 23 licences for both trail hunting, i.e., with urine or an "animal" scent - and "drag hunting", i.e., with an artificial scent like aniseed - across the last hunting season.

The Royal Artillery Hunt - licensed to trail hunt on Salisbury Plain by the MoD's Defence Infrastructure Organisation - has previously been filmed chasing and killing foxes on hunts.

The former sort of hunt has been banned in some 2.5 million acres of British land since late 2020, when the director of the Masters of Fox Hounds Association was accused of telling hunt masters how to evade the 2005 ban in leaked online seminars.

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Ex-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had been blasted for aggravating campaigners by ending a 2009-era memorandum which let "monitors" onto MoD land to ensure trail hunts complied with the law.

Wallace had brought attention to "security concerns as well the behaviour of protesters and their attire, which is intimidating to other users" of the land, while his successor Grant Shapps upheld his approach - and further banned hunt monitoring last Christmas.

In a letter from the LACS to Shapps's own successor Healey - as well as the minister for defence procurement, Maria Eagle and Environment Secretary Steve Reed-Luffingham wrote: "The time for change is now, and this would be a crucial first step in Labour properly ending hunting for good and standing by their pre and post-election promises to strengthen the Hunting Act by closing its many loopholes as well as outlawing trail hunting."

The group's own research raised concerns over some 526 reports of alleged illegal hunting, alongside 870 reports of "hunt havoc", such as hunt groups trespassing and dogs chasing pets.

But while the LACS has urged Labour to act, its campaign promise has come under fire from Countryside Alliance, which has said tightening laws would be a "pointless waste of time".

Tim Bonner, the group's chief executive, said just last month: "Labour's continuing obsession with hunting shows that the party hasn't changed... This new attack on trail hunting is pointless, prejudiced, and will fan the flames of an ugly culture war."

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation, including the banning of trail hunting.

"Requests for temporary licences are reviewed annually and will be considered by the department in due course."