Here we round up just some of the media coverage from Boxing Day - thanks not just to our hunts but also to everyone who turned out in support of their work. On Boxing Day Countryside Alliance Executive Chairman Barney White-Spunner wrote for the Telegraph on the mood ten years on from the Hunting Act. He focused on our continuing campaign to see the Act repealed and the chance the 'West Lothian' question offers, taking Scottish MPs out of the equation when it comes to voting on legislation that does not take effect in Scotland. Barney observed that at meets across the country "The mood will not be of quiet despair, as it was 10 years ago, but rather of quiet confidence that hunting has survived, and will survive whatever is thrown at it – and that it is the Hunting Act which is now on borrowed time." Read the article here.
Elsewhere, the Western Morning News carried an interview with Solicitor Advocate Jamie Foster, who represents Hunts on Hunting Act charges. Jamie talked about his work and beliefs, the power of social media and how his childhood as the son of a doctor in remote Newfoundland shaped his views. Read the piece here. The Yorkshire Post carried two pieces on Boxing Day: a news article quoting Director of Campaigns Tim Bonner on the West Lothian question and the future of the Hunting Act, and a piece by Countryside Alliance Head of Media Charlotte Cooper about the strength of feeling and the united spirit of hunting - read this here. The Telegraph reported that 250,000 were out on Boxing Day in support of their local hunt - read the news article here.
Finally, our animal welfare consultant Jim Barrington has written a blog about Boxing Day and its meaning, both to us and our opponents who argue, illogically, that the Hunting Act is working perfectly yet must be strengthened. Ever the voice of levity, Jim also writes about a welfare-based solution to the hunting issue. Read Jim's blog here.
Finally, thanks to the thousands of you who contributed to our Facebook photo gallery. We are still working our way through the photos but are grateful to everyone who took the time to email us. Pictured is the Avon Vale at Lacock by David Betteridge.