Majority of people think trail hunting should be illegal, polling suggests

Labour pledged in its manifesto to ban trail hunting, a practice in which a scent is laid across the countryside for hounds and riders to follow as an alternative to banned fox hunting, but which has been criticised as a “smokescreen” for illegal activity.

An announcement last month on animal welfare reforms outlined the Government’s plans to ban the practice, but animal welfare campaigners are frustrated at its failure to launch the consultation on doing so.

Nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of more than 2,000 people polled for the League Against Cruel Sports thought that trail hunting should be illegal, compared to a quarter (24 per cent) who thought it should be legal.

The polling by Survation of people in England and Wales found majorities in favour of making the practice illegal in both urban and rural areas, as well as among voters for all parties, including the Conservatives, Reform UK, Labour, Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru.

Emma Slawinski, League Against Cruel Sports chief executive, said: “This polling shows that people from across the political spectrum and from both town and countryside have seen through the lame excuses being offered up by the hunting world and want to see trail hunting banned.

“The time for change is now and we urge the Government to act and to push ahead with the consultation to ban trail hunting which they firstly promised to deliver last year and then early in the new year."

She added: “We want to see the Government launch its consultation to ban trail hunting and to also remove the exemptions in the Hunting Act, introduce jail sentences to act as a deterrent to lawbreakers and to outlaw reckless and accidental hunting.”

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “Given the scale of the challenges facing rural communities, from the damage caused by the family farm tax, to raising rates for rural businesses and the cost of living, it would be absurd to prioritise even more parliamentary time on the issue of hunting.

“If the Government want to repair their relationship with the countryside, they need to start by working with the rural community – not legislate against it.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “In our manifesto, we said we would ban trail hunting and that’s exactly what we’ll do.

“We will be launching a consultation seeking views on how best to deliver a full ban.”