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On Fox Hunting
May. 27th, 2015 03:18 pmI heard a rather irritating interview with Alex Salmond on Radio Four this morning which got on to the subject of fox hunting in England and Wales.
Irrititing in two ways.
Firstly, when asked a question about what principles the SNP MP's would use when deciding to vote on proposals to re-instate fox huntingin England and Wales Salmond waffled on and on and on like, well like one of my more whimsical and long-winded contribtutions to the internet giving Michelle Hussain (I think) the opportunity to interupt him with "You'll just do what every you feel like then?" or words very much to that effect.
Irritating because it's a perfectly simple and reasonable question and all Salmond had to do was either answer it with the correct and direct answer (see below) or give some bland assertion that until he saw the detail he wasn't really in a position to give a definative answer, the devil would be in the detail, see the accidental changes to the competitence of the Scottish Parliament brought in that time that it happened.
Instead, he got carried away with his man o' pairts, man o' the people act and allowed himself to be made to look unprincipled and interferring.
More irritating because if ever there was an issue on which the SNP should abstain (in as morally an affronted way as possible) it's fox hunting in England (and maybe Wales). The correct response is perhaps for one SNP backbencher to stand up and say, "Fox hunting is wrong and we're sad and bit ashamed to sharing a country with people who think it's not wrong but, as we've said before foreign countries shouldn't meddle in the domestic affarirs of their neighbours - so do what you want."
It's a pretty clear example of an England only matter. Bar a few cross border foxes. Reynard Gretna Redux. There doesn't appear to be any budgetary implications, it creates some criminal offences in England and that's about it. Bluntly, it's no more the SNP's business than fox hunting in Germany. It's also, in my view, not an issue that even indirectly affects many people in Scotland. It's not important to us, doesn't affect the day to day lives of us, or people we know. It's not like benefit sanctioning where we Scots might be appauled that our cousin was a victim of a harsh regime. Foxes aren't endangered. It's barely ever been an animal cruelty measure - it's about English class war.
Doesn't affect us. No great moral reason for us to intervene.
Almost certainly bound to get right up the noses of exactly those English voters who thought twice abotut voting Labour because they were worried the SNP were going to interfere in the running of England. "Oh, look a the SNP, they can't help themselves."
Voting on fox hunting would be a massive own goal for the SNP, and for a cause that won't make a single Scot better off, nor make much material difference to any one in England.
Irrititing in two ways.
Firstly, when asked a question about what principles the SNP MP's would use when deciding to vote on proposals to re-instate fox huntingin England and Wales Salmond waffled on and on and on like, well like one of my more whimsical and long-winded contribtutions to the internet giving Michelle Hussain (I think) the opportunity to interupt him with "You'll just do what every you feel like then?" or words very much to that effect.
Irritating because it's a perfectly simple and reasonable question and all Salmond had to do was either answer it with the correct and direct answer (see below) or give some bland assertion that until he saw the detail he wasn't really in a position to give a definative answer, the devil would be in the detail, see the accidental changes to the competitence of the Scottish Parliament brought in that time that it happened.
Instead, he got carried away with his man o' pairts, man o' the people act and allowed himself to be made to look unprincipled and interferring.
More irritating because if ever there was an issue on which the SNP should abstain (in as morally an affronted way as possible) it's fox hunting in England (and maybe Wales). The correct response is perhaps for one SNP backbencher to stand up and say, "Fox hunting is wrong and we're sad and bit ashamed to sharing a country with people who think it's not wrong but, as we've said before foreign countries shouldn't meddle in the domestic affarirs of their neighbours - so do what you want."
It's a pretty clear example of an England only matter. Bar a few cross border foxes. Reynard Gretna Redux. There doesn't appear to be any budgetary implications, it creates some criminal offences in England and that's about it. Bluntly, it's no more the SNP's business than fox hunting in Germany. It's also, in my view, not an issue that even indirectly affects many people in Scotland. It's not important to us, doesn't affect the day to day lives of us, or people we know. It's not like benefit sanctioning where we Scots might be appauled that our cousin was a victim of a harsh regime. Foxes aren't endangered. It's barely ever been an animal cruelty measure - it's about English class war.
Doesn't affect us. No great moral reason for us to intervene.
Almost certainly bound to get right up the noses of exactly those English voters who thought twice abotut voting Labour because they were worried the SNP were going to interfere in the running of England. "Oh, look a the SNP, they can't help themselves."
Voting on fox hunting would be a massive own goal for the SNP, and for a cause that won't make a single Scot better off, nor make much material difference to any one in England.
