Gwyn Prosser

Working with the people of Dover & Deal

 

Foxhunting

Last month, the Conservative candidate for Dover and Deal was telling animal welfare campaigners that the fox hunting ban wasn’t something he’d given much thought to – this month (according to the Independent) he has pledged to vote to repeal the ban, were he to be elected.

Mr Elphicke’s eagerness to bring back hunting with hounds was revealed when the East Kent Hunt announced that local hunt supporters should  ‘do everything in their power’ to help the Tory candidate over-turn Labour’s 5,000 majority in Dover & Deal, and take the seat from Gwyn.

The Hunt Master’s letter says ‘As with every hunt in the land, the East Kent Hunt has been allocated to a constituency (Dover) where the Tory candidate has pledged to support repeal and where we could make a real difference to his campaign.’

Mr Elphicke, who is a London tax lawyer, has decided to endorse fox hunting and repeal the ban despite the fact that 74% of the public are against hunting with hounds and the contrast of his  views and that of the wider public is made even more stark when considered against Gwyn Prosser’s position. He’s one of the foremost campaigners against animal cruelty in the House of Commons since 1997 and has received awards for his work from the League Against Cruel Sports and Animal Action. He led the campaign against live animal exports and campaigned long and hard for a ban on hunting with dogs, which culminated in the 2004 Hunting Act passed by Labour.

Gwyn says:  ‘Hunting with dogs is a barbaric past-time with its roots in the dark ages and it has no place in today’s civilised society. My constituents have been fully supportive of my animals rights work during the 13 years I’ve been in Parliament and I know they will reject any prospect of resurrecting fox hunting.

“How can David Cameron say he has modernised his  party and shaken off the ‘nasty party label’  while promising to abandon the ban that stops dogs ripping out the throats of foxes for the pleasure of members of the Hunt ?  It’s a case of same old Tories same old nasty policies.'