Labour to make retaining the hunting ban a "key plank in its election strategy"

With all else that's going on with which the Government ought to be concerning itself, believe it or not, this is the news carried in tomorrow's Times:

"Labour is to make the preservation of the hunting ban a key plank in its election strategy... Anti-hunt activists want to use the issue to shore up Labour’s core vote at the election and to protect the legislation.

"Hilary Benn, the Rural Affairs Secretary, has agreed to front Labour’s campaign against repeal. He has sent an e-mail to Labour Party members to tell “as many people as possible that a Conservative government would mean an end to the ban so many people worked so hard to introduce”.

"Mr Benn has sought to contrast the Government’s focus on tackling the recession with a Tory priority to repeal the hunting ban. Using emotive language, he said: “Make no mistake — David Cameron and members of his top team have made it very clear that their intention is to see the return of the cruel spectacle of foxes being torn to pieces in Britain’s countryside.”

Jonathan Isaby

> Labour bigged up the foxhunting issue during the Norwich North by-election