1,000 signatures reached
To: Keir Starmer
The time for change is now: end fox hunting
Please sign our open letter to Keir Starmer calling on his government to act and push ahead with the consultation to ban trail hunting.
Dear Prime Minister,
I am writing to you because the government you lead has yet again delayed its important work on bringing an end to hunting wild animals with dogs. I am urging you to act, as the time for change is now.
In April 2025, we were promised that there would be a consultation on strengthening hunting laws last year. It did not happen. We were then told to expect it “early” this year. This now seems unlikely. Now, we are expected to wait patiently while your government dithers and delays yet again.
Make no mistake, every time this consultation is delayed, and the legislation that must surely follow, more innocent animals are condemned to death. Hunts will continue to persecute not just foxes, but deer, otter, mink, and hares. Animals will suffer, and they will die. It is unacceptable.
The public are on our side when it comes to strengthening hunting laws and banning so-called ‘trail’ hunting. Most people think trail hunting should be illegal and 76 per cent support stronger hunting laws. But they expect action, not further delays.
Your government must act and push ahead with the consultation to ban trail hunting with urgency. The consultation must also include the removal of the exemptions in the Hunting Act, introducing jail sentences to act as a deterrent to lawbreakers, and outlawing reckless and ‘accidental’ hunting.
Your government was elected on a pledge to end hunting. We must see action soon to fulfil that promise or you risk the passage of a key manifesto pledge. Under the last Labour government, the Hunting Act took two parliamentary sessions and the invoking of the Parliament Act to pass.
Time is of the essence. More delay risks the failure of one of your most popular manifesto commitments.
It could not be clearer that the time for change is now. Further delays are no longer acceptable. It is time to end hunting.
Why is this important?
Hunting was supposed to be banned over 20 years ago, but the hunts have carried on chasing and killing wild animals with dogs like the law never changed. This government was elected on a promise to finally end fox hunting and has repeatedly promised to consult on the issue of trail hunting. Countless lives have been lost, and animals continue to be persecuted while the government delays. The time for change is now.
How it will be delivered
We will deliver the letter to Downing Street on your behalf.
