Fervent hunt supporter Ben Wallace, a former defence secretary in the Conservative government, has hit out at the policing of fox hunting. Now a hunting industry official, his bid to portray hunters as victims of ‘two-tiered’ policing reeks of desperation.
His comments come just days after the announcement that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not issued trail hunting licences for the 2024/25 season. This news will have grated on Wallace, who went out of his way to protect hunting on MOD land when he was Defence Secretary.
The belligerent Tory will also be reeling from the BHSA’s National Trail Hunting Day failure. This was a PR stunt that took place on 14 September, and which was largely mocked as ‘Smokescreen Saturday’ and ignored by the very people it aimed to attract: Labour politicians, journalists and the police. Longman refused to attend – irritating Wallace even more.
‘He should be removed’
“[Longman] is supposed to police without fear or favour, and if he can’t then he should be removed because that is part of this debate about two-tier policing.”
He continued:
“Police want this to all go away rather than policing the thuggery that we see [from hunt saboteurs]. Pubs get threatened and shops get threatened and farmers get threatened and nothing happens.
We want to show this is the legitimate, within the law, way of hunting and recreation with horses and hounds.”
This ploy, to paint those saving foxes as villains, is a well-worn tactic used by a hunting industry that tries constantly to deflect scrutiny away from itself.
Charles Carter, notorious huntsman with the Royal Artillery Hunt
‘He is a joke’
Protect the Wild chatted to Salisbury Plain Monitors, a group that has spent countless hours monitoring the Royal Artillery Hunt hunting on MOD land on Salisbury Plain. The pack was protected by Wallace when he was Defence Secretary. The group said:
“Ben Wallace is very vocal now on fox hunting. It’s no surprise he joined the BHSA board, and has openly said he supports blood sports; his bias was evident in his role as Secretary of State for Defence. Now he is ignoring Matt Longman, who has shared that illegal hunting is prolific, and is trying to change the narrative straight out of the Trump playbook of PR.
When Wallace talks of “thuggery”, why does he ignore the thuggery of the Royal Artillery Hunt? Why does he ignore the fact that the police took action for threatening behaviour, assault, damage to a monitor’s car, and illegal hunting by the hunt?
Wallace also did not listen to the MOD frontline operational team staff who stated in an email (obtained by a Freedom of Information request) that “the attitude of the RA masters/staff when trying to arrange meets is becoming rather threatening in tone which is unacceptable”. The staff said of the hunt: “they obviously have no respect we don’t like their threatening tone used”, and “any other unit would be banned for this behaviour”.
Salisbury Plain Monitors continued:
“It’s not a laughing matter, holding up a warm, torn-up body of a vixen, especially when the Royal Artillery got away with this as an “accident”. But we have to laugh at Ben. He is a joke – but sadly a dangerous one.”
T/Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman. Image Channel 4 News
‘Levelling that playing field’
Until recently hunters have largely succeeded in getting away with killing wildlife – with police forces either looking the other way, or not showing up when hunting meets take place. The tide turned somewhat in 2021 after infamous fox hunter Mark Hankinson, ex-director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, was found guilty of encouraging people to evade the hunting ban. More hunters began to be investigated and prosecuted, while in 2023, Longman admitted that not only is fox hunting “prolific”, but that the police have “much more to do” in tackling it.
In his latest rant, Wallace has accused Longman of writing off “whole communities”. Longman responded, telling The Times:
“In the past, and at times now, hunts may have behaved in ways that other members of society would not; for example the control of dogs, the use of vehicles and a potential absence of policing. Work we are doing now is levelling that playing field, and that in turn is putting unfamiliar pressure on hunts to stop any breaking of the laws.
It is paramount that everyone has the confidence that the laws are applied evenly. Tradition is not a good enough excuse to override that debate.”
We need an urgent change of law
Key statistics from the report include:
- 335 foxes seen pursued by one or more hounds
- 19,048 hunting days calculated for the 2023/24 season.
- 44.81% of monitored/sabotaged hunts saw an incident of some kind (violence, hunting of wildlife, anti-social behaviour, trespass etc)
- 124 instances of sett interferences
- 255 instances of hunt violence were perpetrated – 239 minor attacks and 16 major attacks.
- 327 reported traffic offenses
- 150 deer chased by hunts throughout the season
- 26 deer killed by hunts
- 351 police vehicles attended hunting activities in the 2023/24 season.
- 99 cases of non quarry animals being chased or killed
Longman told The Times:
“Officers do not yet have sufficiently sharp enough powers to carry out the role they have been asked to against hunt criminals.”
He continued:
“The current legislation does not assist policing as much as it could in this area and whilst it is not a police role to suggest law itself, it is my role, as the national lead on foxhunting crime, to advise on its effectiveness, which is currently low.”
