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Countryside Alliance

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Not to be confused with Country Alliance.

Countryside Alliance
AbbreviationCA
Formation1997
Legal statusNon-profit organisation
PurposeProtecting rural interests
Location
Region served
UK
Membership
105,000
Main organ
Countryside Alliance Board
Websitecountryside-alliance.org.uk

The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and country sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice".[1] With over 100,000 members, the group was named the 'most inspiring political personality' of the last ten years by Channel 4 News in 2008.[2]

History

The Countryside Alliance was formed on 10 July 1997 from three organisations: the British Field Sports Society, the Countryside Business Group, and the Countryside Movement. The Alliance was formed to help promote and defend the British countryside and rural life, both in the media and in Parliament. Since then, the Alliance has campaigned on a number of issues which they believe are important to rural Britain, some of the most prominent of which are listed below:

  • Against the passing of the 2004 Hunting Ban, and lobbying for its repeal[3]
  • Against the closure of rural post offices[4]
  • Supporting shooting and deer stalking across the British Isles, by campaigning against additional regulations and negative press coverage[5]
  • Encouraging customers and supermarkets to stock food from British farms[6]
  • Calling for better broadband connections for homes and small businesses in the countryside[7]
  • Organising educational talks and trips to the countryside for schoolchildren[8]
  • A "Game-to-Eat" campaign aiming to popularise game as a meat of choice[9]
  • Fishing4Schools, an initiative aimed to help children with special educational needs by taking them angling[10]
  • Falconry for schools[11]
  • Supporting small rural businesses through the Countryside Alliance Awards scheme[12]

Administration

Leadership

Elected Members of the Board

Appointed Members

  • Bill Tyrwhitt-Drake
  • Charlie McVeigh III
  • David Harrel
  • Guy Portwin
  • Paul Dunn

Hunting with hounds

The alliance states that "the countryside is enriched by country pursuits, whose participants should be free from prejudice and discrimination."[citation needed]

The alliance has long defended hunting and shooting, especially hunting with hounds, opposing the legislation (the Hunting Act 2004) 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 2002, which prohibited hunting north of the border. In 2002, the alliance organised the Liberty & Livelihood March, one of the largest demonstrations in British history, with almost half a million people marching through London to demonstrate against the proposed ban.[14] The Countryside Alliance mounted a series of legal challenges to the Hunting Act 2004 which were not met with success.

Following the first conviction under the act, on 4 August 2006, the alliance reaffirmed its belief that legislation was "illogical and unclear"[15] and vowed to support the appeal against the conviction, which was later successful.

Critics 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 (previous) government's "preoccupation with the issue". On BBC Newsnight on 18 November 2014, Anne Mallalieu stated "What's actually happened to the foxes...because of the growth of commercial shooting...foxes are being shot at night by lampers...people with bright lights shooting them with guns..."[16]

Countryside March

In September 2002, the Countryside Alliance organised a march in central London to promote the interests of rural Britain.[17] The British National Party had called for its members to join the march and support the countryside; however, the Countryside Alliance issued the following statement: "Everything we stand for is the opposite of what they believe in."[18] 400,000 people were in attendance, including Iain Duncan Smith, Vinnie Jones, Edward Fox, Clarissa Dickson-Wright, Richard Foulds, Earl Spencer, and Michael Marsham, 7th Earl of Romney.[19][20]

Countryside Rocks

The organisation has held fundraising rock concerts under the banner "Countryside Rocks" which have attracted support from stars including Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, The Who's Roger Daltrey, Procol Harum's Keith Reid, Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton and Genesis (band)|Genesis' Mike Rutherford.[21]

Conflict with the RSPCA

In a 2013 interview with The Daily Telegraph, the alliance's executive chairman, Lieutenant General Sir Barney White-Spunner, called the RSPCA a "sinister and nasty" organisation and urged alliance members to stop donating to it. The RSPCA responded by saying: "Sir Barney White-Spunner's interview shows once again how far out of touch he and his colleagues at the pro bloodsports Countryside Alliance are with the reality of public opinion in this country."[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ "About the Countryside Alliance". Countryside Alliance. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  2. ^ Watts, Andrew (25 January 2008). "Countryside Alliance wins Channel 4 award for political campaigning". Farmers Weekly. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Hunting". Countryside Alliance. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Post Offices "could close by stealth"". Countryside Alliance. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Shooting & conservation". Countryside Alliance. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Food & farming". Countryside Alliance. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Connecting the countryside". Countryside Alliance. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  8. ^ "Introducing The Countryside Alliance Foundation". Countryside Alliance. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Looking for a recipe? - Game to Eat". gametoeat.co.uk.
  10. ^ "Fishing". Countryside Alliance. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  11. ^ "Welcome to Falconry for Schools". Countryside Alliance. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  12. ^ "Communities". Countryside Alliance. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  13. ^ "Heracles LLP - Johnnie Arkwright". Heracles LLP. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  14. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 16 Oct 2002 (pt 32)". parliament.uk.
  15. ^ "Huntsman will appeal court decision". Countryside Alliance. 3 August 2006. Archived from the original on 13 November 2006. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  16. ^ "BBC Two - Newsnight, 18/11/2014". BBC.
  17. ^ "Huge turnout for countryside march". BBC News. 22 September 2002. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  18. ^ Perrone, Jane (20 September 2002). "BNP urges members to attend countryside march". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  19. ^ "Thousands march for countryside". The Daily Telegraph. 22 September 2002. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  20. ^ "The Earl of Romney". The Daily Telegraph. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  21. ^ Robinson, Sarah (7 May 2006). "Rock legends fight hunt ban". Sunday Sun. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  22. ^ Holehouse, Matthew (27 December 2013). "RSPCA has become 'sinister and nasty', warns head of the Countryside Alliance". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
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