Hunting foxes for sport is cruel and unnecessary. That’s why Labour banned fox hunting in 2004.

But it seems the Tories don’t agree.

One of the leadership hopefuls, Jeremy Hunt , wants to bring it back if he becomes Prime Minister.

Hunt says that fox hunting is just part of the “balance of the countryside”.

There’s nothing balanced about putting on your best riding jacket, blowing horns and pursuing defenceless animals to their death with a pack of blood-thirsty dogs for “sport”. It’s not my idea of sport.

The BBC asked Hunt four times on Thursday whether he thought fox hunting was cruel.

Each time, he refused to answer.

So, either he doesn’t think hunting is cruel but won’t admit it, or worse, he secretly does think it’s cruel, and is only supporting it to win votes with pro-hunting Tory members in the leadership election.

Boris Johnson is no better. In 2013 when Mayor of London, he made a sick joke about forming a fox-hunting gang in my constituency of Islington.

He said he wanted to go out hunting in London with an air rifle and “blaze away”.

Tories have been trying to get rid of the hunting ban ever since it was introduced. David Cameron said he’d like to scrap it in 2015. Theresa May said it again in 2017.

It’s clear that when it comes to putting their party before the public interest, Tories are convinced that bringing back hunting is a big vote winner with the tiny number of Tory party members who get to choose the next Prime Minister.

We’re blessed with a wealth of beautiful wildlife in this country. It must be protected from Hunt, Johnson and their bully-boy mates.

Labour will make sure that it is.

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