I’ll vote to repeal hunting ban, vows MP Desmond Swayne

10:30am Friday 19th February 2010 in News By Bob Jolliffe

I’ll vote to repeal hunting ban, vows MP Desmond Swayne I’ll vote to repeal hunting ban, vows MP Desmond Swayne

NEW Forest MP Desmond Swayne has promised he will vote to repeal the hunting ban if the Tories win the election.

His comments come after Labour’s Environment Secretary Hilary Benn called on Conservative leader David Cameron to rule out a repeal of the Act.

The Tories have said they will give MPs a free vote over the issue in the next parliament. But veteran New Forest anti-hunt campaigner Frankie James claimed: “There’s not a majority of people in the Conservative Party who want it repealed.

“They recently did a poll saying that 51 per cent of Conservatives don’t want it repealed. And an even bigger proportion of the population as a whole are not in favour.”

If any alterations need to be made, she said, they would be to tighten up loopholes that led to foxes being chased and killed “accidentally”.

Mr Swayne said: “I voted against it and I will vote for it to be repealed.”

‘I voted against it and I will vote for it to be repealed’

Desmond Swayne

He thinks a repeal should be put before Parliament quickly, but that MPs should be given the opportunity to follow their consciences and not be forced to toe the party line.

He believes his electorate is divided “about 50:50” on whether the five-year-old Hunting Act should stay in place or be lifted.

He does not believe many people are really concerned and said: “It is not a vote-turning issue”.

The number of enthusiasts who turn out with the New Forest Hounds for trail hunting practised there over the past five years has not diminished.

Mr Swayne said: “I think that’s because by and large they are hanging on waiting for the Seventh Cavalry to arrive and repeal the law.

“It’s very much ‘keep the faith’. Some hunts have suffered and some have not.”

New Forest Hounds spokesman Dr Graham Ferris agreed trail hunting was popular but is “not like traditional hunting because it will never have the same element of the unknown”.

He and many others will continue to support it whatever its form, because they regard it as part of the Forest’s heritage.

It was important to recognise the Tory Party had said it would give members a free vote and had not promised repeal, he said.

Comments(39)

cyco44 says...
11:16am Fri 19 Feb 10

"Not a vote turning issue", well you won't be getting my vote if the ban is repealed! Until recently I have been undecided where my vote might go, I think you have just swayed it for me!

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Laurie H Marsh says...
11:28am Fri 19 Feb 10

cyco44 wrote:
"Not a vote turning issue", well you won't be getting my vote if the ban is repealed! Until recently I have been undecided where my vote might go, I think you have just swayed it for me!
If your vote can be swayed on whether a few foxes are killed by a mob of louts on horseback........... Well your vote cant be worth much!
Surely in these troubled times a vote is worth more than that!

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colin 50 says...
11:30am Fri 19 Feb 10

i wonder if he would make such a statment if he was not in safe tory seat , morally he is a disgrace to the human race, how any one can condone the chasing and killing of a defenceless animal and call it a sport is beyond me,personaly i would love the opportunity to mount a horse and chase him and his cronies across farmland pursued by the voters who have been fleeced through the expenses system,

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cyco44 says...
11:41am Fri 19 Feb 10

Laurie H Marsh wrote:
cyco44 wrote: "Not a vote turning issue", well you won't be getting my vote if the ban is repealed! Until recently I have been undecided where my vote might go, I think you have just swayed it for me!
If your vote can be swayed on whether a few foxes are killed by a mob of louts on horseback........... Well your vote cant be worth much! Surely in these troubled times a vote is worth more than that!
I am not particularly impressed by the antics of any of our politicians at the moment! I find it hard to trust any of them. I was merely saying that this issue would sway me from voting Tory as I do not at all agree with the barbaric practise of foxhunting.

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cyco44 says...
11:48am Fri 19 Feb 10

P.s. I think you will find that any vote is worth something to our political parties, especially in these troubled times when so many people (not me) are threatening to not vote at all in the next general election!

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legaleagle says...
11:50am Fri 19 Feb 10

Well he won't get my vote. Hunts have continued without savage killing of foxes so the argument that the ban would put the hunting fraternity out of business has been proved wrong.
Ban blood ****!

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Danfox Davies says...
12:23pm Fri 19 Feb 10

I'd rather jump in front of the Hunt's dogs than vote for it to happen.

Banning fox hunting was the UK stepping one rung higher up the ladder towards being considerable as 'civilised', a ladder which the whole world including us has a long way to climb yet. Let's not reverse progress.

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pd7 says...
12:50pm Fri 19 Feb 10

i will vote for whoever convinces me that they are going to be a MP for the people and not their wallet

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boozie says...
12:52pm Fri 19 Feb 10

the ban needs to be repealed,just like smoking in pubs it will end freedom of choice being taken away.

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uvox44 says...
12:57pm Fri 19 Feb 10

isn't it strange how chasing a wild animal and setting dogs on it is a so-called part of our heritage when it is the well to do yet would rightly be called barbaric if it was a group of yobs setting their dogs on , say, a deer.Both are sick acts of blood **** that belong in the dark ages. And isn't also strange how we were told before the ban was made law that the hunts would have to put their dogs down, the rural economy would collapse etc,etc- all this has been proven to be a lie, drag-hunts allow for everyone to dress up in their red coats and charge around but where's the fun in that if there isn't a bit of blood and death involved? The ban is a half-baked law as it is, it needs strengthening not repealing!

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Bournemouth Woman says...
12:59pm Fri 19 Feb 10

boozie wrote:
the ban needs to be repealed,just like smoking in pubs it will end freedom of choice being taken away.
It depends what you mean by freedom, certainly not freedom for the fox. This is unfortunately the sort of perverted thinking that we get from Swayne!!!

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mike the moustache says...
1:22pm Fri 19 Feb 10

personaly i would love the opportunity to mount a horse and chase him and his cronies across farmland ,
I mean I can't stop loling at this comment its so funny I never loled so much. mount a horse .

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High Treason says...
1:43pm Fri 19 Feb 10

boozie wrote:
the ban needs to be repealed,just like smoking in pubs it will end freedom of choice being taken away.
Simple. its cruel. maybe you enjoy the suffering of animals.

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30850LordNelson says...
2:06pm Fri 19 Feb 10

Tally-ho!!!
Run Reynard run..........

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In Absentia says...
2:11pm Fri 19 Feb 10

He's the MP for the New Forest, they could pin a blue rosette on an ape in there and it'd get voted in. Come to think of it, they already have!

Seriously, this country has far more important things for Parliamentary time to be used on than going over this yet again.

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fedupwithjobsworths says...
2:20pm Fri 19 Feb 10

Bournemouth Woman wrote:
boozie wrote: the ban needs to be repealed,just like smoking in pubs it will end freedom of choice being taken away.
It depends what you mean by freedom, certainly not freedom for the fox. This is unfortunately the sort of perverted thinking that we get from Swayne!!!
Indeed, not freedom for the fox or freedom from being kippered down at the pub!

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mike the moustache says...
2:34pm Fri 19 Feb 10

I explained to Charles I was going to the Meet at Milborne St Andrew, he said 'wear the fox hat'
A repeat joke off of a matchbox.

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McVICAR says...
4:07pm Fri 19 Feb 10

It has always fasinated me as to what pleasure these k**bheads get out of chaseing a helpless animal across fields with a pack of dogs which proceeds to tear the animal apart when caught, what kind of mentallity do you need in the 21st century to take part in such a barbaric so called sport.
What ever Desmond Swayne says is not really important to affect peoples voting as there are much more serious issues that people have to weigh up when deciding which way they vote, having said that i think Desmond Swayne is a complete loon

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Invisible says...
4:50pm Fri 19 Feb 10

cyco44 wrote:
"Not a vote turning issue", well you won't be getting my vote if the ban is repealed! Until recently I have been undecided where my vote might go, I think you have just swayed it for me!
I'm definitely with you on this one.

SW gate-shut - how appropriate!

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sea poole says...
4:53pm Fri 19 Feb 10

My God, I thought our MP (Missing person) for Poole was worse than useless. Swayne makes him look like a half-brain

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Xchurch-man says...
5:46pm Fri 19 Feb 10

Why not vote to bring back bull baiting, bear baiting, **** fighting, dog fighting and all the other barbaric animal cruelty that has been outlawed whilst your are at it?
All of these and fox hunting, belong where they are now, in history books.
That is where any civilised person would wish them to stay.

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Xchurch-man says...
5:47pm Fri 19 Feb 10

Haaa!
it wont let me say c*ck!!

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rainbowkisses says...
6:43pm Fri 19 Feb 10

pd7 wrote:
i will vote for whoever convinces me that they are going to be a MP for the people and not their wallet
Take it you won't be voting then?

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pete furtsada says...
6:46pm Fri 19 Feb 10

you mean cockadoodledoo

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Bob49 says...
6:48pm Fri 19 Feb 10

Is this the same Desmond Swayne who said of the New Forest in Parliament "it would not exist but for the wisdom of 11th century monarchs and their passion for hunting" ?

If so perhaps he would care to comment on their wisdom in "meting out severe punishments to locals who objected to the taking of their lands (blindings and mutilations were common). Villages were depopulated and destroyed to clear the way. It is said that 36 churches were demolished during the creation of King William's New Forest."

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WIGGINSv says...
8:22pm Fri 19 Feb 10

McVICAR wrote:
It has always fasinated me as to what pleasure these k**bheads get out of chaseing a helpless animal across fields with a pack of dogs which proceeds to tear the animal apart when caught, what kind of mentallity do you need in the 21st century to take part in such a barbaric so called sport. What ever Desmond Swayne says is not really important to affect peoples voting as there are much more serious issues that people have to weigh up when deciding which way they vote, having said that i think Desmond Swayne is a complete loon
They also like being thrashed on the bare botty and pay a lot to dominatrixes for the dubious 'pleasure', it's a public school thing.

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McVICAR says...
8:53pm Fri 19 Feb 10

Bob49 wrote:
Is this the same Desmond Swayne who said of the New Forest in Parliament "it would not exist but for the wisdom of 11th century monarchs and their passion for hunting" ?

If so perhaps he would care to comment on their wisdom in "meting out severe punishments to locals who objected to the taking of their lands (blindings and mutilations were common). Villages were depopulated and destroyed to clear the way. It is said that 36 churches were demolished during the creation of King William's New Forest."
Demolishing 36 churches, i see no problem with that.

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MHayworth says...
10:30pm Fri 19 Feb 10

As a Tory who won't be voting for Cameron over this issue, I can assure you that it does matter to a great many people and is already affecting how they will vote.

Those Tories who are so certain that Cameron is on to a winner, are actually driving the more decent people away from the party and into the fringes daily.

The so-called 700 hours 'wasted' on the hunting act, was driven solely by the pro-hunt Tories trying desperately to make the debate run past the maximum time limit in the hopes it would be thrown out. Read the Hansard debates - they are all online.

Time to stop falling for the hype of the Countryside Alliance and see that even most farmers are sick to death of the hunts trampling their land, causing massive damage, intimidating them if they complain, and using this issue to divide them politically from their urban friends who actually do care about the real issues affecting them.

As the Burns report concluded, lamping is the most effective and humane way to dispatch a fox - if and when necessary. If the hunts would stop breeding them for their sport, of course, it would certainly be less often 'necessary'.

M. Hayworth
Campaign For Decency

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Brock_and_Roll says...
11:15pm Fri 19 Feb 10

Of course Mr Swayne would not be so keen on this issue if he were not in such a rock solid seat - even a fox would get elected in the NF if it has a blue rosette!

It is certainly a myth that a large majority of Tory voters or indeed country people support hunting. I was born and bred in the Forest and I guess I am a natural Tory voter - I even took part in bloodsports in my (misguided) youth.

I have however come to the conclusion that foxes (along with deer etc) need to be controlled, however, the killing of an intelligent animal FOR FUN is not justifiable and belongs to another century.

I know privately many other forest people agree but they keep quiet as the hunt supporters with can be quite boorish at times and they dont want to appear "anti country"

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sturman says...
12:43am Sat 20 Feb 10

Well we'd all better hope that the Tories don't win the upcoming election or we'll see a return to the Dark Ages in more ways than just this.
The spectre of Thatcherism still hangs over the Tory party with all the greed, selfishness and selling of national assets (BT, British Gas and the rest) that entailed.
I suspect that Mr Swayne and his ilk would like to see a return of such out-dated practices as they would help to sustain other out-dated practices - like our outdated and undemocratic electoral system.

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colin 50 says...
9:30am Sat 20 Feb 10

mike the moustache wrote:
personaly i would love the opportunity to mount a horse and chase him and his cronies across farmland , I mean I can't stop loling at this comment its so funny I never loled so much. mount a horse .
share the joke,

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Laurie H Marsh says...
12:18pm Sat 20 Feb 10

The word "yoicks" still appears in the dictionary.
All is not lost!
As for "Thatcherism", beware, as the Argies are acting up again!
I just hope that another 1000 people dont have to die to save a faltering government!

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babz says...
1:16pm Sat 20 Feb 10

I think you will find it IS a vote turning issue. There is no way in this world I would vote Conservative if there is any chance at all of the hunt ban being repealed. Do your homework Desmond, you're out of touch with the majority opinion.

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AbCat says...
7:56pm Sat 20 Feb 10

I hope most of the New Forest electorate will find the notion of having a fox being torn to pieces by a pack of dogs appalling, and make sure that people like this are kept as far away from the Commons as possible.

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2Much...again! says...
10:57pm Sat 20 Feb 10

GB..the country where people generally care more about animals than kids!

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s-pb2 says...
12:06am Sun 21 Feb 10

So if they bring back the sport of fox hunting does that mean we can all go and kick a fawns head in or shoot a bird of prey with an air gun for the hell of it, because thats killing animals for fun too. No difference.

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KLH says...
5:06pm Sun 21 Feb 10

They've lost my vote because of this! I support those here that have said the same.

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KLH says...
11:27am Mon 22 Feb 10

Considering Cameron like hunting himself - bet it will be a priority!

I would have voted Tory, but the foxhunting thing put me off.

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EGHH says...
5:53am Thu 25 Feb 10

Same old Tories! They'd have children up chimneys if they could get away with it. The majority of the UK population want to keep the ban, but true to form the Tories are backing the so-called landed gentry. I will never vote Tory if they continue with their support of this barbaric pastime. Tories are "The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible" to quote Oscar Wilde!

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