CONTENTS

politics first | Corridors
September / October 2016 | www.politicsfirst.org.uk
The Hunting Act is at the
core of Conservative values
Is equality still on
anyone’s agenda?
Sir Roger Gale, Patron of Conservatives Against Fox Hunting and
Conservative MP for North Thanet
In a conference speech following the last general
election, David Cameron, as Prime Minister, spoke about
the journey to a modern, compassionate Conservative
Party. The British people, he said, are decent, sensible,
and reasonable, and it was these values that saw the
Conservative Party win the election in 2015.
Baroness Dianne Hayter, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
and a Labour Peer
Perhaps I have been in politics too long, as I increasingly
rail at the lack of progress in what I hold to be selfevident
truths: equal chances for all, equal opportunities
and equality of treatment.
The Conservative Party is the party of
British values and Britain has led the way
when it comes to animal welfare, with some of
the strongest animal welfare laws in the world.
As the attitudes of the British people
towards animals have developed over the
years, so, too, have the policies of the
Conservative Party. When the Hunting Act
was introduced in 2004, it had the support of
a handful of Conservative MPs. The party has
moved on since those days. There are now
at least 50 Conservative MPs against repeal
or amendment and this number is growing
all the time. That reflects the 70 per cent of
Conservative voters who support the Hunting
Act, as shown by the most recent Ipsos MORI
polling.
There are, of course, still those who wish
to repeal the Act, as there are also those who
would like to strengthen it. Fears over the
damage to the rural economy and to the rural
community have proved unfounded. Hunts
can continue, within the confines of the law.
It is, to paraphrase the former Prime Minister,
sensible and reasonable.
The decade since the ban was introduced
has seen the arguments in favour of hunting
fall away. There is no scientific evidence to
suggest that fox hunting is an effective means
of controlling the fox population. A 2006
study in Welsh forests found that high culling
pressure actually leads to increased fox
numbers. Indeed, the very basis for culling
– the extent to which fox predation impacts
on farming income – is questionable. Defra
research suggests that predators account for
only 5 per cent of annual lamb losses.
To suggest that hunting is central to the
rural way of life is to misunderstand rural
Britain. The British countryside should not
be reduced to a grim caricature centred on a
minority blood sport. Polling shows that 84
per cent of people in rural areas support the
ban on hunting, a figure which is higher than
support for the ban in urban areas. What rural
people want from a Conservative government
is improved broadband infrastructure, better
housing and more support for farmers - and
we are delivering all of these.
The Conservative Party is in government
because the British public trust us to ensure
that the country is handed to our children
in a better state than we found it in. That is
not limited to the economy. Responsible
stewardship of our land and resources is a
great British value and also a Conservative
value. We want to see our animals
protected and cherished, not tormented and
persecuted. The Hunting Act protects not just
foxes, but also hares - whose numbers have
dropped by 80 per cent over the last century
- and stags. If we are to be truly serious
about, as the party’s 2015 manifesto states,
“being the first generation to leave the natural
environment of England in a better state than
that in which we found it”, protecting those
species from unnecessary abuse must be
central to this aim.
When it comes to concern for animals,
party affiliation is irrelevant. Is there anything
more fundamentally British than caring for
those around you? For us, that quintessentially
British sense of duty must also be extended to
those who also feel pain and fear. The sight
of a fox chased to exhaustion and killed by
a pack of hounds is repugnant, whether
you are blue, red, yellow, or of any other
or no political persuasion. It speaks to the
strength of British politics that members of all
parties can come together to defend the most
vulnerable, whether human or animal, in our
society.
As Conservatives, we are proud to play a
leading role in that fight, and as MPs, we will
protect the Hunting Act. What it has achieved
lies at the core of Conservative beliefs –
compassion for others, treasuring the natural
environment, and respect for the law. The
Conservative Party is the party of Britain, and
defending animal welfare is a fundamentally
British value - decent, sensible, and
reasonable.
In the year that the UK celebrates its
second female Prime Minister, the University
of Oxford has its first female vice-chancellor,
the Head of the TUC and the First Minister in
Scotland are women (along with the leaders
of both the Conservative and Labour Scottish
parties), Germany’s Chancellor is female
and – I hope – we are about to see a female
President of the United States, readers might
well ask: is this not enough?
The answer is no because civic life, the
world of work and the wider political world
continue to be male-dominated. Only a
handful of the directly elected Mayors or
Council leaders are women, with the legal,
regulatory and academic worlds showing no
better example. Meanwhile, the figures for
ethnic minority representation are even worse.
Does any of that matter? And what will
bring around change?
Well, it matters for four reasons: human
rights, consumers, employees’ rights and for
the economy.
The first is obvious. It is surely everyone’s
right – male and female, white or ethnic
minority – to have an equal chance to a
decent education, career and to the care and
support which society provides.
In the breeding ground of future scientists,
scholars, civil servants and other leaders –
the universities – we find a dearth of senior
women. Dame Julia King, vice-chancellor
of Aston University, describes how the very
pictures found in corridors and common
rooms reveal the male-dominated culture. “If
you walk around most universities, you will
see portraits of elderly men on the walls”,
meaning that the lack of female faces can
make women feel as though they are intruding
in an all-male domain.
The resulting lack of gender or race
equality also means that decisions are taken
within a certain world view which excludes
“people not like us”. The Leaders’ life
experiences, reference groups, assumptions
and understandings cannot but be shaped by
who they are and who is around them. And
if those exclude large groups of society, it is
likely that decisions will reflect the interests
or judgements of the inner circle, not of
society as a whole.
So it matter for consumers or users of
the goods and services provided or overseen
by those institutions, be they the NHS and
social care, education, legal or financial
services, transport or any other aspect of our
daily life. Just as every single theatre and
most restaurants do not have enough ladies’
toilets - because their architects, accountants
or managers are male – so, too, are other
necessities designed with men in mind.
Similarly, the lack of anything approaching
representative numbers of women at board
level means that the top tier of employers
does not reflect the gender composition
of their workforce. Again, meaning the
experience and interests of women workers
rarely receive a fair hearing.
Finally, it matters to the economy. If
women’s or ethnic minorities’ talents are not
engaged and utilised, not just their company
loses out, but so, too, does the wider
economy. A loss we can little afford.
This is addressed to male, white readers!
Yes, it is you who have to smell the coffee
and act. Women and BAME groups have
campaigned enough, but without the power to
make a difference.
So I ask of the following: never appear
on an all-male platform or discussion
programme; never sit on an all-male
interviewing panel; involve women in drawing
up job specifications and recruitment
strategies; use BAME specialists both to hunt
out likely applicants, interns and mentors and
to advise on untapped potential; ensure that
anyone carrying out staff appointments has
undertaken equalities training; and monitor
and review your promotions and appointments
data – and be open about it (transparency is
key to addressing inequality so that must be
a priority).
Forty-five years on since my first article
on equal pay, I want to be able to move on
to other issues! Politics First readers have the
key to action – will you rise to the challenge?
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