Why The Grand National Needs to Be Banned
From the 3rd-5th April, The Grand National meeting will take place: a brutal event which has claimed the lives of 65 horses since 2000.
Posted 31 Mar 2025

Posted on the 1st March 2003
As promised, the government introduced its new hunting bill in December, and - as suspected - it fell short of a total ban.
Under the new legislation, both stag hunting and hare coursing will be prohibited, but fox hunting will be allowed under licence in certain circumstances. Each hunt application must convince a legal authority (there’s some uncertainty as to who this will be) that it passes the tests of ‘utility’ and ‘least suffering’ before it will be granted a licence (i.e. It must demonstrate that it is necessary to kill foxes and that hunting is the least cruel method available).
The facts show that the fox is NOT a pest – that lambs die from exposure and disease rather than from fox predation; equally, foxes cannot get at commercially-produced chickens because they live in vast, sealed sheds.
Countryside Minister Alun Michael insists, nonetheless, that his new measures will wipe out most hunts. In practice, they may be open to the widest possible interpretation.
The Bill has now gone to Committee stage, where it is unlikely to be altered significantly. It will then be put to the vote in its second reading in the House of Commons. Will the 200 Labour MPs who say they will vote down the Bill in favour of a total ban stick to their position?
From the 3rd-5th April, The Grand National meeting will take place: a brutal event which has claimed the lives of 65 horses since 2000.
Posted 31 Mar 2025
Discover the stories of the mothers trapped inside different animal industries, and how you can help stand up for them this Mother’s Day
Posted 27 Mar 2025