Dear Sir,
In the wake of the recent constitutional debacle over foxhunting, I could barely contain my amusement when I read that Tony Blair hopes that events will not prevent a 'rational and sensible' debate of the issues in the runup to the next election! Some hope!
Truth is when it comes to foxhunting the baby went out with the bathwater a long time ago. The debate has not been, is not and never will be conducted on any 'rational or sensible' basis. You might as well ask Nazis to like Jews! Nowhere does protection of the fox figure seriously in the debate, hunting (or not hunting) it is just a symbol of the increasingly bitter struggle between the traditional values of rural folk and the radical aspirations of townies, who, thanks to the current demographic trend towards a 'home in the country' are progressively inserting themselves and their urban values into rural communities. It must be nice to live in a chintzy farmhouse surrounded by sheep even if you can’t tell the difference between a ewe and a tup!
In Calderdale, where 'urban' and 'rural' have cohabited and intertwined at close quarters since the start of the industrial age, the debate is likely to be less acrimonious., but I can think of a few Dalesfolk who are likely to be pointing their twelve bores at anything that smacks erosion of civil liberties and interference by the 'Nanny State'. For the assault on foxhunting has become the symbol of everything they resent about official interference in their way they live their lives. Terrorism? With the Countryside Alliance on one side and the A.L.F. on the other we ain't seen nuthin' yet! They'll make the P.I.R.A. and the U.D.F. look like Laurel and Hardy, and Al Qu'eeda like Ali Baba's Camel!
I, like many who have no strong views either way, merely await with anticipation my ringside seat, as the 'great and the good' (not to mention the loudmouthed and bossy) of this increasingly crazy country, draw up their battle lines and sally forth to make total idiots of themselves! The Black Watch may (or may not) have helped to keep the peace in Iraq, but they wont have any luck in Rural England. You’re going to need the nukes Tony!
Jim Jarratt.
