Lo, the official Green Party manifesto was released, and the animals they did rejoice. Or did they? The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, for one, have already come out and said that the party’s policies ‘will cause chaos in the countryside’. ‘Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they’, I hear you say. But despite their natural bias, there’s certainly some truth in it.
Economically, of course a ban on what they call ‘grouse shooting and other “sport” shooting’ will affect the rural economy. Shooting alone, never mind other sports, is worth £2 billion to the rural economy, and supports 74,000 full-time jobs. If there are plans to increase the rural economy in other ways, that’s all well and good, but I can’t spot any.
It’s not just a matter of money. A lot of conservation also depends on shooting; owners of shoots spend £250 million per year on conservation and habitat management, and just last month the conservation director for the RSPB, Martin Harper, wrote on
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