The Memo: Pro-fox hunting group argues that hunters should be a protected minority

Pro-fox hunting group, Hunting Kind, says it has prepared a legal case to prove that hunters and their traditional practices should be protected under UK law. More specifically, chair of the group, Ed Swales, has said he has been advised by a leading human rights lawyer that hunters qualify for protection under the Equality Act 2010. 

This act made it illegal to discriminate against anyone due to nine protected characteristics, one of these being “race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin.” Hunting Kind will try to prove that the hunters are an ethnic minority whose hunting practices should be protected under this law. The Equality Act 2010 specifies protections for people with these characteristics in certain situations: at work, in education, as a consumer, when using public services, when buying or renting property and as a member or guest of a private club or association. Protection is also given to those associated with someone who has one of these characteristics and those who have complained about discrimination or supported someone else’s claim. 

Swales said Hunting Kind would make legal challenges to prove that supporters of hunting had faced discrimination. On its website, the group is advertising for people to come forward with test cases: “Discrimination...have you been de-banked, de-party'd, victimised or abused in any way for your hunting stance? We're taking cases forward, please get in touch today.” If such challenges were successful, they would set a precedent for hunters to have the same protections in law as other minority groups. 

Swales has also suggested that hunting could be eligible for recognition by UNESCO as a form of intangible cultural heritage. He denies the accusations of animal rights activists that hunting is cruel and unnecessary and argues that hunting is an important element of farming and agriculture. Meanwhile, the new Labour government has pledged to ban trail hunting. This is where an animal scent is put down for a dog to chase instead of hunting a live animal. Fox hunting is already illegal in England and Wales under the Hunting Act of 2004.