|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hunters march to protect tradition
LONDON, England -- More than 280,000 campaigners are expected to join a countryside rights march in Britain's capital demanding their traditions are protected. The Countryside Alliance say they are fighting to protect a way of life put at risk by government and initiatives introduced by people who do not live in or understand the countryside. They will be protesting against moves to ban fox hunting and for state help in countryside problems such as unemployment and poverty. March director James Stanford told the Press Association: "It will be without doubt the largest civil rights demonstration ever held in London in the last 150 years." Police have warned people against driving through central London on Sunday as many roads have been closed for the march which is expected to take eight hours to weave from Hyde Park and St Paul's cathedral to Parliament Square. But only about 1,600 police will be on duty -- a relatively small figure compared with the number of expected marchers but also a sign that police are not expecting any serious violence.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter said: "It's going to be a demanding day because of the sheer number of people coming into Central London. "There may well be groups expressing their right to disagree with the Countryside Alliance and obviously we will be prepared. "We have no intelligence of threat from violent groups. We expect it to be a peaceful day but we have contingencies for anything that might happen." Wildlife experts on Friday urged the government to adopt a "middle way" option of licensed hunting to solve the controversial issue of hunting with dogs. Fairer laws were the only way of getting the countryside lobby on-side and making the laws enforceable, the report into hunting said. Wildlife consultant Dr. Nick Fox said: "It is our task to produce a solution that will be acceptable to people that are actually doing these things in the countryside." Pro-hunters argue the sport is part of countryside tradition, protects farm animals and conserves the fox population. They say 14,000 jobs are at directly risk if hunting is banned and tens of thousands would be affected. Their opponents say the sport is barbaric throwback to another era, saves few farm animals and kills foxes inhumanely. Government figures estimate 8,000 jobs would be at risk. More than 30 special trains have been laid on and just under 2,500 coaches will ferry thousands of protesters into central London. Stanford said: "We had 280,000 people for our march in 1998. I will be happy if we have even one more person than that figure on Sunday, but I suspect it will be much more. "We already have 210,000 registered marchers and a lot more will just turn up." The Countryside Alliance was formed in 1998 from the British Field Sports Association, the Countryside Business Group and the Countryside Movement. It has 100,000 individual members and 350,000 affiliate members and says it represents a cross section of people who live and work in the countryside.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
