Interesting times

Well, there you are then. Another minority pastime banned. However, this time it’s different.

Usually, the way it goes is that a minority pastime is, for one reason or another, singled out and banned. The pursuers of the pastime are usually a disjointed bunch scattered across the country with no clear identity, no base of power other than their individual votes and no great combined voice. They also usually lack the knowledge and the kind of sophistication that is required to fight for their freedoms within the context of state institutions. How the system works and what have you. Another thing that they also usually lack is the ownership of something of intrinsic value to both the state and other institutions.

It’s different with the minority pastime of Fox Hunting.

Hunting, though enjoyed by people from both town and country has its base in rural communities; communities which have felt neglected by the state for a number of years. There is no love lost between them and their political masters who they see as remote and out of touch with their needs.

The communities are usually close knit with everyone knowing everyone else’s business. A common cause would run like wildfire through such a community, particularly when the individuals who make it up have so many shared values and interests. Everyone will know someone affected by the ban in one way or another.

Within their ranks they have landowners who are already beginning to use their assets as a tool in the fight against the ban and they also have a large number of people who are willing to stand their ground on the issue, knowing full well that if the state and its agents cannot get resources into their communities to protect them and their property from the criminals, they themselves are unlikely to be challenged regularly if their behaviour is somewhat less than that expected of a good state citizen. There are also the Hunt saboteurs to throw into this mix; explosive.

They have people who understand state institutions and the law courts (just look at the House of Lords for some of their supporters) and they know exactly how to make life difficult for certain people who dwell in these places.

The also have an organisation in the Countryside Alliance that really knows how to campaign. I’ve seen nothing like them in this country before and that is going to count for something. They channel information through their grass routes network on a regular basis and everyone knows what’s going on and what is expected of them. The organisation also attracts funding and knows exactly how to use it.

But by far the best thing these people have is themselves. They are angry. They are most definitely not lazy and will get out to London, Manchester, anywhere at the drop of a hat on receiving information from the CA. These people are hunters and our politicians are their prey and this is the way it is going to be for some time to come.

All this will lead to a continuation of the fight. In the law courts, on farmers fields which will no longer be available to the state or to other private industries, over the hedgerows where many will continue to hunt, and in the law courts where some of those caught hunting will find themselves. They will be punished and the anger will continue.

This is part of the whirlwind, but unfortunately not the whole of it.

Part of it lies in the hearts of those who are experiencing not just anger but a burning hatred for those on the nuLabour backbenches who they see as having a personal vendetta against them. A hatred for their political masters who refused to reign those class warriors in. A hatred for the disgraceful way in which they feel they are being treated for no good reason whatsoever.

I once said:

Who would have thought that when Pandora’s box was finally opened they would find nothing but a huntsman’s horn?

What I am sure of is that, on our shores, these are now interesting times.