‘Right people in key positions’: Countryside Alliance entryism into the National Trust
But campaigners say it's already too late.
On 20th January 2021, Hunting Leaks published minutes from an April 2020 meeting of the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA). In the details was one minor point that resurrected the long-lived tension between hunting and the National Trust.
Hunt faces in high places
Under “Any Other Business”, the minutes state that honorary Hunting Office treasurer Jessica-Leigh Pemberton “raised the issue of National Trust AGM”. And it goes on to explain that pro-hunting lobby group Countryside Alliance had been “encouraging the right people” to gain influential positions within the National Trust.
Pro- and anti-hunting communities have long seen the National Trust as an important battleground. Though it’s seen several battles across decades, the most recent was ignited by the charity’s 2017 AGM. Helen Beynon, a member of the National Trust, proposed a motion to ban all hunting from the charity’s land. This motion received more than 60,000 votes and was lost by just 299 votes.
The following years saw action by pressure group National Dis-trust (now Stop Hunting on the Nation’s Land) alongside local sabs and residents. They held the National Trust accountable to its own guidance on licensing hunts, particularly regarding so-called trail hunting. This legal form of hunting is permitted by the charity – but activists emphasised that few if any hunts conducted trail hunting.
In late 2018, the charity appeared to start taking concrete action against hunts chasing wildlife and breaking the law. And it pulled the plug entirely in November 2020 following a nationwide police investigation into Hunting Office webinars apparently admitting that trail hunting is a “smokescreen”.
But the MFHA’s April 2020 minutes show that, by the time National Trust licences were suspended, the association was already making plans to get around the charity’s tightening restrictions.
“Rigorous and robust recruitment process”
Currently, there are no further details on what people or positions the Countryside Alliance were targeting, although the minutes air concern about a “hostile motion” at the 2020 AGM. A press release by the Countryside Alliance in June 2020 suggested the hostile motion was similar to the 2017 proposal.
The Citro approached the National Trust asking if it was aware of the Countryside Alliance’s plan for manoeuvring people into key positions. A spokesperson said:
We are not aware of any organisation encouraging members to apply for positions within the Trust. We have a rigorous and robust recruitment process for all new members of staff, who must adhere to strict codes of conduct and declare any potential conflicts of interest. Hunting with animals has been illegal since 2004 and we encourage anyone who witnesses illegal activity to report it to police. We have paused trail hunt licences on National Trust land for the remainder of the season and currently do not have a date when this decision will be reviewed.
Speaking on this issue to ITV, the Countryside Alliance was open about its strategy, saying it:
made no secret of encouraging our supporters to become National Trust members, stand for the [National Trust] Council, support prospective Council candidates that are sympathetic to our campaigning issues and to vote on the motions that may have an impact on their lives or the countryside.
Too late to stop the clock
When The Citro contacted Stop Hunting on the Nation’s Land about the minutes, the group voiced concern that the Countryside Alliance’s strategy may already be in action:
It comes as no surprise that ‘The [Countryside Alliance] have been encouraging the right people to apply for key positions within the Trust’, according to the MFHA Committee Meeting Minutes of April 2020, made available by Hunting Leaks. Stop Hunting on the Nation’s Land has been given a heads-up by an outgoing anti-hunt National Trust employee that their position is due to be filled by a pro-bloodsports person who is already in a position within the Trust.
However, Stop Hunting on the Nation’s Land appeared confident that the hunting community has lost this battle for the National Trust:
this just demonstrates the current sentiment within the Trust, and that the bloodsports fanatics are desperate to reverse a process which has already gone too far to turn back the clock to the days of gratuitous fox hunting on public land. The National Trust has made huge changes with regard to the licensing of hunts, mainly due to campaigning by ourselves (originally as National Dis-Trust) and others, and the sway of public opinion and its own membership. We don’t foresee a return to the bad old days, but we mustn’t rest on our laurels.
Time’s Up
Stop Hunting on the Nation’s Land told The Citro that despite cutting 1,300 jobs, the National Trust expects to retain its hunt monitoring team. As a result, the group said:
This suggests that the Trust intends to continue licensing hunting, albeit in a reduced and restricted way, with far fewer licences being awarded to hunts [and] with a much stricter regime.
The Countryside Alliance’s Campaign for Hunting website makes it clear that the National Trust is a major priority. But it’s unclear exactly what the MFHA and Countryside Alliance’s intentions could mean in the immediate future.
At the time of writing, it’s also unclear exactly how police charging MFHA director Mark Hankinson could affect hunting overall. But with licences suspended and no date for reviewing this decision, hunting’s access to nearly 250,000 hectares of land is teetering on a cliff edge.
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Headline image via
Stop Hunting on the Nation’s Land