Starmer warned of rural backlash as hunt crackdown looms
As the Boxing Day hunt gathers in the shadow of a looming government crackdown, Sir Keir Starmer has been warned he faces a major task in rebuilding trust in rural communities.
The Labor leadership’s intention to ban trail hunting, announced just days before these traditional events, has further increased existing tensions. This decision deepened discontent among farming communities, alongside persistent resentment over inheritance tax changes despite a partial U-turn.
Pressure group Rural Alliance claims the Government is “alienating rural people”. According to one poll, 65 per cent of voters believe the Labor leadership has unfairly neglected rural communities.
The ban on hunting on land where hounds follow a specific scent is part of the Government’s new animal welfare strategy launched before Christmas. This measure allays concerns that the practice is being used as a smokescreen for fox hunting.
The Countryside Alliance has defended the practice, which was introduced to comply with the Hunting Act 2004’s ban on fox tracking, with tens of thousands of people expected to take part in Boxing Day track hunts.
The group claimed the hunts contributed more than £100 million a year to the rural economy.
The government will launch a consultation in early 2026 on how to ban trail hunting.
Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner said: “When Keir Starmer said he ‘wanted a new relationship with the countryside’ we all assumed he wanted a better relationship, but within 18 months his government has alienated rural people and created the clear impression that it doesn’t care about the countryside.
“His skewed priorities have put taxing family farms, raising rates for rural businesses and banning trail hunting ahead of policies that would benefit rural people.
“While partial changes to the family farm tax are a step in the right direction, the government desperately needs to learn the key lesson from this policy debacle: it needs to work with the rural community, not legislate against it.
“The government has a long way to go to rebuild trust.”
A poll by ORB International found that only 36 per cent of Britons agreed or strongly agreed that the Labor government cares about rural people, while 76 per cent said they believed the Government was prioritizing urban issues over rural ones.
ORB surveyed 2,083 British adults online between 12-14 December.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) defended its policies by pointing to its response to the farming sector review led by former National Farmers’ Union chief Baroness Minette Batters.
A spokesman for Defra said: “This government is committed to banning track hunting, which is often used to disguise illegal fox hunting and has strong public support across the country.
“This builds on previous animal welfare reforms undertaken by this Government, including giving police greater powers to prevent dog attacks on livestock, protecting farmers and animals.
“The Batters Review highlighted the need for greater collaboration between industry, farmers and government and that is exactly what we will do.
“We have increased the individual inheritance tax threshold from £1 million to £2.5 million, meaning couples with estates worth up to £5 million will not pay inheritance tax.”
