Boxing day meets attract record numbers, but Countryside Alliance plays down urgency of vote to repeal ban
A pro-hunting group played down ministerial calls for a free vote on repealing the foxhunting ban to be held soon as record numbers turned out across Britain for Boxing Day meets .
The Countryside Alliance – which claims support for hunting is stronger since the ban took effect – said it was "sensible" and "grown up" for the government to prioritise the economy over the controversial legislation.
Alice Barnard, the Countryside Alliance chief executive, said the organisation remained committed to seeing the ban overturned.
Her comments came after two ministers, Jim Paice and Richard Benyon, criticised the ban as unenforceable and unworkable. Their interventions inspired politicians from across the political spectrum to wade into a debate that has become as much a part of the festive tradition as the meets themselves.
"The current law simply doesn't work," Paice said. "I personally am in favour of hunting with dogs, and the coalition agreement clearly states that we will have a free vote on whether to repeal the act when there is time in the parliamentary calendar to do so."
Barnard, who is stepping down from her post after a year in office, told the Guardian: "The economic situation is incredibly serious and people in rural areas are feeling the strain. Now is not the time to be discussing a vote."
The coalition agreement says that a free vote on whether to repeal the ban will take place by 2015. Downing Street was at pains to say nothing had changed despite increased political pressure, and that there was still no timetable for the vote.
Barnard said: "We don't see any slippage and self-imposed deadlines are unhelpful. We remain committed to getting this done. But the priority is the economy."
There have been seven Boxing Day hunts since the ban and about 250,000 people are thought to have attended legal meets this year, with the mild weather said to be one reason for the high turnout.
Barnard said the Boxing Day hunt "is about solidarity and showing the strength of feeling", adding: "It's extraordinary that you can get that many people out after Christmas. I'm proud of that."
The ban, and the prospect of a repeal, continues to arouse strong opinions. The League Against Cruel Sports published a poll of 2,126 people suggesting that a repeal would be deeply unpopular with the wider public.
Two-thirds of those surveyed believe the Hunting Act should remain in place, while another anti-hunt group condemned efforts to overturn the ban at the same time as the country prepares to host the Olympics.
In Norfolk, the Conservative MP George Freeman said the effect of the ban should be the subject of a select committee inquiry before any vote so parliament could "repeal on the basis of the facts rather than political bigotry and class war against the countryside".
The shadow environment secretary, Mary Creagh, said there was "no place for animal cruelty in a civilised society".
Conservatives Against Fox Hunting said it defied "credulity that … there is a small minority of people who are actively campaigning for a return to blood sports, in the form of foxhunting, stag hunting, hare hunting and hare coursing with dogs."
The chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, Joe Duckworth, said: "It is utterly appalling that people can think the act of chasing a wild animal with hounds to the point of exhaustion and then taking pleasure in watching it being killed is acceptable.
"This cruel blood sport has thankfully been made illegal in this country and there is absolutely no desire among the general public to bring it back."