Another milestone passed – our (for there are 18,999 of you and only one of me) e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting today passed the 19,000 signature mark.
I would like to thank all who have signed and all who have promoted this e-petition.
This latest 1000 has taken just under a month to achieve – it is the slowest of all 19 thousands [note added later – actually it is marginally quicker than the previous 1000 now i have checked again] . That’s to be expected and there is no sign of the steam running out on this subject at all.
I believe (you can check if you like) that is about the 109th most successful e-petition ever on the government website out of a total of over 30,000 (and, of course, most of those 30,000 ran for a full 12 months whereas our e-petition has just started its sixth month of life.
There is a long way to go and many more unreached people to contact but no-one can doubt that the future of driven grouse shooting is a bigger issue this November than it was last November. Next November we may see a Westminster government with a completely different political make-up.
We know that one political party, The Green Party, would ban driven grouse shooting and other field sports. It is surely not too much to ask that other political parties come clean on their position too. We know what Defra says about this issue, under a Conservative and Liberal Democratic coalition government, as they have responded, in a way, to the e-petition. But what of Labour? What might the Labour Party position be in its manifesto?
The more signatures we get, the more likely that the issue of wildlife crime will be addressed in the party manifestos next spring. So please ask your friends and workmates to sign our e-petition too.
Twenty thousand by Christmas – is that possible? Or is it, perhaps, under-ambitious? Let’s find out.
Thank you again. And please sign here.
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Twovthoughts. Totally agree with ‘Marine Protected Areas’, but will/should paid boat trips with visitors/Holiday makers be excluded from these protected areas. I believe they must.
Second. I volunteer & support RSPB but worry about funding going to shore-up their pension scheme. Can you comment on the blog on both these topics please?
Two thoughts. Totally agree with ‘Marine Protected Areas’, but will/should paid boat trips with visitors/Holiday makers be excluded from these protected areas. I believe they must.
Second. I volunteer & support RSPB but worry about funding going to shore-up their pension scheme. Can you comment on the blog on both these topics please?
Just great seeing so many people get behind this important issue.
It was also great seeing our Shadow Environment Secretary, Barry Gardiner, showing up in support of Hen Harrier day (Mr. Paterson would’ve been a tad more surprising and possibly less welcome) but surely that wasn’t just a photo opportunity for Labour? Was it?
From that day to this I’ve been mystified as to what the Labour party line is on driven grouse shooting and it’s not for the lack of asking.
So come on Labour, what’s the skinny?
I’ve written to my MP who is Conservative about grouse shooting a couple of times. And also the Labour candidate in my parliamentary constituency to enlighten her on the subject of driven grouse shoots and seek her views on the industry. I would have contacted the other parties but none of them appear to have selected candidates yet. I hope it will help to increase the profile of the issues surrounding grouse shooting in political minds.
It’s great to see so many people getting behind this campaign. The more I learn about Driven Grouse shooting and in particular the attitude of the landowners the more I realise what a great move for Nature a ban would be. If everyone that has signed the petition could just get one more friend or family member to sign we could be hitting some very big numbers by Christmas.