Feedback | 20 November 2004

Oborne off target

Peter Oborne seems to have spent too long in his stuffy London office and has developed a conspiracy theory too far concerning rural sports. He makes a number of unsupported assumptions in his comment on the Hunting Bill (Politics, 13 November). Perhaps he needs to get out more.

BASC remains steadfastly opposed to the Hunting Bill, and has supported the Countryside Alliance through its legal protests in the run-up to the Bill. Tens of thousands of BASC members attended the marches in London and I have spoken at a number of rallies including one in Parliament Square and the recent demonstration in Brighton. We have privately and publicly told ministers at every opportunity of our opposition to the Bill.

It would, however, be negligent of us to allow legislation which would affect shooting sports to go unchallenged. To that end we have worked to secure amendments from the government to the Hunting Bill, which will protect shooting sports. None of these was arranged ‘privately’ but were put forward as government amendments and subjected to parliamentary scrutiny. To describe this process as a ‘classic strategic error’ is nonsense. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation has a duty to avoid damage to shooting sports.
John Swift
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Wrexham

Get tough on Israel

It would help if President Bush were to think the unthinkable and cut off all military and economic aid to the state of Israel (‘The beginning of hope in the Middle East’, 13 November). This change of policy, while sending an unambiguous message to the Israelis, would not endanger Israel’s immediate security, given its overwhelming military superiority and nuclear arsenal. Such a move would also strengthen the hand of modernisers within the Islamic world.
Yugo Kovach
Twickenham, Middlesex

Bureaucracy rules

Here’s a worm’s-eye view of the Blunkett effect in education (‘Blunkett coverage’, 13 November).