Like most people, I detest cruelty to animals. None of us want to see any cruelty or unnecessary suffering to animals and we all want a legal basis for stamping that out; but I believe an outright ban which criminalises our traditional hunts which do so much good work in the countryside on vermin control and management of the fox population, as well as maintenance of the countryside, seems to me to be the wrong approach.

Foxes are not cuddly pets and the fox population needs to be controlled. All the evidence suggests that control of the fox population by hunts is the least harmful and most reliable method, compared to shooting or poisoning or trapping which are often far crueller.

Politicians love to pass laws. But I continue to believe that the fox hunting ban was hugely divisive and expensive and has now been shown to be largely unenforceable; and by risking criminalising large numbers of innocent hunt followers, it represents an example of political law-making at its worst. Respecting the differing views of MPs across all parties, the Government has rightly committed to a free vote in Parliament on the issue. Before that vote I believe we need a small committee of Enquiry to look at the evidence behind whether and how the ban is working before Parliament makes any decision.

From the evidence I see here in Mid Norfolk, I believe we should repeal or amend the ban to focus on stamping out and criminalising any acts of deliberate cruelty and welfare abuses rather than criminalising large swathes of our rural community in an attack on our rural our heritage. People in cities may not like the sight of traditional hunts with people in red coats and hounds, but that in itself isn't a basis to make it illegal and ban organisations like the WNFH which is England's oldest pack of hounds and does so much great work in our area. We should be driven by the evidence on what is the most humane and effective way to manage fox populations.