𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Rural residents fear Labour will block the historic tradition of shooting, which will drastically impact the countryside lifestyle and economy. It followed Labour’s March 18 suggestion to explore licensing game bird shooting in its Land Use Framework, which outlined its vision for the future of rural life.

There could be restrictions on when pheasants and partridges are released onto estates, prompting fears of an effective ban on shooting. Ian Bell, the chief executive of the British Association of Shooting and Conservation (BASC), said: “The economic benefits of shooting extend far beyond the money spent on a day in the field.”

“If it weren’t for shooting, many businesses in isolated, rural areas would be forced to close their doors. The shops, the pubs, the petrol stations – many of them would shut.”

In Helmsley, a market town in North Yorkshire, which has become synonymous with tweed and shoot weekends, businesses fear the future consequences, including restaurants, which have already been hit hard with widespread closures.

Liam McDonnell, general manager at The Pheasant hotel and restaurant, told the Telegraph that “without shooting, the hotel would not be financially sustainable throughout the whole year”. He said 60% of winter business came from shoots.

Kevin Hollinrake, the local Conservative MP, feared that Labour secretly wants to regulate the sport out of existence, with companies potentially unable to afford new licences.

He said: “This is the thin end of the wedge. There’ll be an insidious effect on shooting. It’ll be bureaucracy that just wraps people up in red tape.”

Latest figures show shooting contributes £3.3billion to the UK’s economy annually, and supports 146,700 jobs, according to the BASC.

In Labour’s framework, the party said it recognised the value of “well managed recreational shoots as part of countryside economies and culture” but that “recreational gamebird shooting can have trade-offs with environmental, economic, and animal health and welfare outcomes”.

“In order to future-proof the sector and ensure high environmental and animal health and welfare outcomes, we want to transition to the highest standards of practice being consistently applied for upland and lowland shooting.”

It said the Government will work with the sector and stakeholder groups to “explore wider measures such as licensing and any associated conditions for recreational gamebird shooting and release, going beyond current approaches which only apply on or near European protected sites”. Any proposed changes would be subject to public consultation.