The
Countryside Alliance (CA) is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as "
country sportA country sport or field sport is one of the traditional rural blood sports of hunting with various types of hound most commonly for fox, hare, and red deer), shooting and non game birds, or fowl, such as duck and snipe, when it is called Fowling, fishing most commonly for...
s" (
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
,
shootingShooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
and
anglingAngling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" .The hook is usually attached by a line to a fishing rod. A bite indicator such as a float is sometimes used. The rod is usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook...
).
It was formed on 10 July 1997 from three organisations: the British Field Sports Society, and two other organisations (the Countryside Business Group and the Countryside Movement) which were formed with help from the British Field Sports Society. It is based near the
Oval tube stationOval tube station in Kennington is a station on the Northern line of the London Underground between Stockwell and Kennington stations. It is the only station on the Morden branch of the Northern line whose name begins with a vowel and is one of only two stations on the London Underground with only...
at the junction of the
A3The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road for much of its length, is a dual/divided highway, or expressway, which follows the historic 10route between London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield...
and
A23The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
.
The organisation covers mainly
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a legal unit within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales follow the legal system known as English law, and the two form the constitutional successor to the...
, and is split into 10 regions:
The Scottish Countryside Alliance covers the country of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the
Countryside Alliance Ireland both the
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
and
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
The Chair of the Countryside Alliance is Labour MP
Kate HoeyCatharine Letitia Hoey is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Vauxhall since 1989, and previously served in government as Minister for Sport.-Background:...
who represents the inner city seat of
VauxhallVauxhall is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:Vauxhall is wholly within the London Borough of Lambeth...
- the Alliance's head office is located in Kennington in Hoey's Vauxhall constituency.
Ann Mallalieu, Baroness MallalieuAnn Mallalieu, Baroness Mallalieu QC is a British lawyer, Labour Party politician and president of the Countryside Alliance....
has been the President since 1998.
The focus of its campaigning has been to defend
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, especially
fox huntingFox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in the United...
, opposing the ban on fox hunting and other forms of hunting with
houndA hound is a type of dog that assists hunters by tracking or chasing the animal being hunted. It can be contrasted with the gun dog, which assists hunters by identifying the location of prey, and with the retriever, which recovers shot quarry....
s, which came into effect (in England and Wales) in February 2005.
The
Countryside Alliance (CA) is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as "
country sportA country sport or field sport is one of the traditional rural blood sports of hunting with various types of hound most commonly for fox, hare, and red deer), shooting and non game birds, or fowl, such as duck and snipe, when it is called Fowling, fishing most commonly for...
s" (
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
,
shootingShooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
and
anglingAngling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" .The hook is usually attached by a line to a fishing rod. A bite indicator such as a float is sometimes used. The rod is usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook...
).
History
It was formed on 10 July 1997 from three organisations: the British Field Sports Society, and two other organisations (the Countryside Business Group and the Countryside Movement) which were formed with help from the British Field Sports Society. It is based near the
Oval tube stationOval tube station in Kennington is a station on the Northern line of the London Underground between Stockwell and Kennington stations. It is the only station on the Morden branch of the Northern line whose name begins with a vowel and is one of only two stations on the London Underground with only...
at the junction of the
A3The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road for much of its length, is a dual/divided highway, or expressway, which follows the historic 10route between London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield...
and
A23The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
.
Structure
The organisation covers mainly
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a legal unit within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales follow the legal system known as English law, and the two form the constitutional successor to the...
, and is split into 10 regions:
- Eastern
- Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as...
- Midlands
The English Midlands, or the Midlands is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
- North West
North West England is one of the nine official regions of England. It has a population of 6,853,200 and comprises five counties of England – Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire....
|
North EastNorth-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Tees Valley. The historic name for North-East England is Northumbria and whilst a few regional bodies still use this name, it is rarely used in...
South EastSouth East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. Its boundaries include Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
South WestSouth West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, covering including Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It has a population of almost five million, and includes the area often known as...
|
Southern Southern England, The South and The South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands and East Anglia. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region...
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
WessexThe Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest of...
|
The Scottish Countryside Alliance covers the country of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the
Countryside Alliance Ireland both the
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
and
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Administration
The Chair of the Countryside Alliance is Labour MP
Kate HoeyCatharine Letitia Hoey is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Vauxhall since 1989, and previously served in government as Minister for Sport.-Background:...
who represents the inner city seat of
VauxhallVauxhall is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:Vauxhall is wholly within the London Borough of Lambeth...
- the Alliance's head office is located in Kennington in Hoey's Vauxhall constituency.
Ann Mallalieu, Baroness MallalieuAnn Mallalieu, Baroness Mallalieu QC is a British lawyer, Labour Party politician and president of the Countryside Alliance....
has been the President since 1998.
Fox hunting
The focus of its campaigning has been to defend
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, especially
fox huntingFox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in the United...
, opposing the ban on fox hunting and other forms of hunting with
houndA hound is a type of dog that assists hunters by tracking or chasing the animal being hunted. It can be contrasted with the gun dog, which assists hunters by identifying the location of prey, and with the retriever, which recovers shot quarry....
s, which came into effect (in England and Wales) in February 2005. Amongst other causes, the Scottish Countryside Alliance campaigns against the
Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002The Protection of Wild Mammals Act was passed by the devolved Scottish parliament in February 2002, making Scotland the first part of the United Kingdom to ban traditional fox hunting and hare coursing.-Passage of the Act:...
, which banned hunting north of the border.
Opponents of the Alliance claim that this is the sole focus of the organisation, a claim it denies, saying that this campaigning is a response to the government's "preoccupation with the issue".
Legal challenges
The Countryside Alliance mounted a series of legal challenges to the
Hunting Act 2004The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...
that banned hunting with hounds (integral to the sport of, for example, fox hunting) in England & Wales from 18 February 2005, which have not met with success.
Following the first conviction under the Hunting Act 2004 on 4 August 2006, the Countryside Alliance reaffirmed its belief that legislation was "illogical and unclear" and vowed to support the appeal of the conviction.
Membership & Affiliations
The CA claims 100,000 members (October 2002), and also claims that 400,000 supporters participated in its
Liberty & Livelihood March in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
on 22 September 2002, a figure accepted by the
Metropolitan Police ServiceThe Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for policing within Greater London, excluding the 'square mile' of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police....
.
The CA is not affiliated to any particular political party. According to disclosures in the UK Data Protection Register, the CA carries out research on the backgrounds of those it considers to be its opponents.
See also
- Pressure groups in the United Kingdom
DISCLAIMER =This is a list of pressure groups in the United Kingdom. These pressure groups, based on their relationship with United Kingdom policy makers, can be divided into insider groups, who have high degree of involvement and influence and outsider groups, who have little or no direct...
- Support Hunting Association
The Support Hunting Association is a group who campaigns for Hunting with dogs in England and Wales to be legalised, by having the Hunting Act 2004 overturned....
- Vote-OK
Vote-OK are a group of political activists which were active in the United Kingdom general election of 2005 and have grown into a strong lobby group since then....
External links