(WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30). JOHN Rimmington's attempts to smear polling commissioned by the Countryside Alliance shows how sensitive obsessive anti-hunting campaigners are about the lack of public support for their campaign.
To put the record straight, the Alliance was criticised for using advertising with the phrase '59 per cent say keep hunting' instead of '59 per cent say don't ban hunting'. To most reasonable people these two statements usually mean the same thing an
d that is why the Alliance is appealing against the ASA ruling.
The ASA accepted that the poll showed that there was no majority of public opinion for a total ban on hunting – only 36 per cent of respondents supported the view that hunting should not be allowed to continue.
In the last few years public opinion has swung dramatically against a ban on hunting. As people discover more of the truth about the issue, rather than believing anti-hunt propaganda, opposition to a ban increases. None of the last six polls conducted by ICM, NOP and YouGov asking people whether hunting should be banned, regulated or left as it is, have found a majority for a ban.
Hunting is enjoying massive levels of support across the country – 500,000 people supported the Liberty and Livelihood March in 2002, 275,000 people turned out to support hunting on Boxing Day last year, and more than 3,000 people went hunting for the first time during National Welcomers Week last autumn.
You don't have to be a genius to work out who is really in the minority and we will continue to use the 59 per cent poll, and all the others, to illustrate that the majority of the public don't want a ban on hunting.
ROB KNIGHT
Lacey Green
