Memories of elections past

[Stabs 3]

An article written by a pal of mine some years ago....

 

Having attended a fairly well-to-do school since my early teens, I have known a few anti-hunt people over the years, which is inevitable I suppose, as it seems these sentiments are often found in the liberal attitudes that are so prevalent in today’s middle classes. My town was split effectively down the middle, not by something such as the walls you would have seen in Belfast or Berlin, but by class. My side of the town was where the council estates were and although I never lived in one, most of my mates did, so I was viewed as one and the same. What sat smack bang in the middle of the town was our school and it admitted people based on their ability rather than income bracket, which meant a mix of the “good†and “bad†sides of the town. My move to this school coincided with a period in my life when most of my spare time was spent either fishing or bird nesting, with the latter being considered pretty unusual even by the standards of my fishing mates. Funnily enough, their dads when told of our expeditions invariably came up with stories of their own from the time when they were lads and used to nest themselves, so it would seem it was an anachronism even then. What was clear to me from starting at that school was that most of the lads who played football over the rec, or went fishing or ferreting were mostly from my side of the town and the more bookish ones were from the “good†side. That is a huge generalisation though and sitting here I can name you loads of lads who were from middle class families that shared my passion for hunting but on the whole, the split is as I’ve described it.

With this being the mid to late 1980’s, the country had experienced a good few years of Margaret Thatcher’s rule and any kid who wanted to appear trendy was hardly going to go around wearing a Norman Tebbit t-shirt to the school disco. The move to this school happened at an age when little boys are feeling their first stirrings towards the fairer sex (although being an all boys school, there was obviously the odd exception!) and anything the lads could do to attract some (any!) attention from the girls at the bus stop on the way home, was deemed fair play. With the schools we moved from being mixed sex, it always seemed the lads we left behind never had trouble pulling the birds and I suppose this came from them being in the same vicinity as them. As I mentioned we were in a single sex school and apart from meeting lasses after school, we’d only ever have contact with them once a term at the school disco, when things got a little wild at times! This being the case, a lot of lads would do anything to grab a girl’s attention and almost anything to keep it. I guess, in those times, anything anti-Tory was considered cool by the more trendy lads at school. I remember a sea of t-shirts bearing The Smiths name (with the favourite being the Meat is Murder one), countless CND badges and enough suede to have clothed the entire Sioux nation. Everyone seemed to be reacting to the government and this was driven to a large extent by the media, particularly the alternative comedians such as Ben Elton, Alexei Sayle etc. Tory bashing was big business and everyone wanted a piece of it. It was the children of the parents who voted the Tories in that took up the banner so enthusiastically. I guess the other thing that kids rebel against at that tender age, is your parents, so wearing that Red Wedge t-shirt would proclaim not only that you were against the government, but it would more than likely get up your parents noses too. Bonus! I remember some arguments that were started in debating sessions (which our school seemed so fond of) back then and I cringe. One lad in our class refused to play monopoly in a free period as it was capitalist! Oh the folly of youth!

 

As far as politics went back then, I was a Labour supporter for the simple reason that I had come from the industrial north and that’s what my family had always voted. We’d not long come out of the big strike and feelings ran high with us. One thing I do remember from the election back then was my fishing mates cheering when the Tories won as Kinnock had promised to take the grammar schools away and this was my mates’ only way of getting out of the terrible school that we were in at the time. I can’t say I understood it all back then, but it was like supporting a football team to us.

 

Anyway, this phase of left wing rebellion didn’t last that long for most of those afflicted, as thankfully they came to see the error of their ways and I hope that when they look back on old photos of themselves, they feel a mixture of shame and humour and the lengths they’d go to for a girlfriend! Of course some never did grow out of this and to them vegetarianism and animal rights were to mould their futures. To them, this was no means to an end for getting a girl in the sack; this was the very essence of their being. A good mate of mine was a vegetarian, but you’d never here it from his lips. He just got on with it and never preached to anyone, which is something I can live with. Toleration of other people’s views is a wonderful thing eh? There was another lad who was the stereotypical right-on vegetarian – hated the idea of anyone passing through his company without them knowing exactly what his views were…you know the sort. He was so earnest it was painful. I dismissed his views as platitudes when he was talking to some hippy girls at a party one night, bemoaning pornographic magazines for exploiting women when all the lads present knew this idiot had a hold-all full of porno mags on top of his wardrobe! Integrity is often sold cheaply in favour of popularity.

 

The more serious of the animal rights supporters had a point to rally around in our town, which was the hunt saboteurs association that would have a little trestle table in the high street of a weekend. This was usually manned by a teacher from our school and she’d rally the troops for jaunts into the countryside to stop the local hunts. I’m pretty sure that for all the vocal support my school mates gave her, none of them actually went on a sabbing mission. I think the sharp end of things put them off a bit. The sabs seemed to be made up new-age traveller types who despite their professed love of tolerance, free speech and peace to all men, loved nothing more than a punch up. No, I think the reality of the situation put a lot of wannabe saboteurs off joining the coal face. This reminds of a time when a bloke I knew wanted to join the Anti-Nazi League until he realised that most of the members were Asians and he didn’t like them!

 

There were two blokes who I was mates with that I consider personal success stories as I managed to convert them from being anti-hunting, although non-active, to actually coming with me for a look out. One of these mates asked to come pigeon shooting in an old battery chicken farm the ALF had closed down years before. One of the terms he stipulated to us was that he wasn’t going to shoot any birds, just targets. The empty sheds of the farm were like magnets for the feral pigeons and we were having a great old time dropping them with our air rifles. Bird after bird dropped onto the shit covered floors of the cavernous barns until eventually, my target shooting friend couldn’t hold himself back any longer! As soon as he shot the first one, you could see the change in him. So much for meat is murder.

 

The other friend was converted by financial reasons pure and simple. As we were considered inept at looking after ourselves once released either into society or university, our school organised compulsory courses called Bachelor Cooking. These were an ingenious affair whereby one of the female teachers would teach us to cater for the rest of the class with a budget of one pound. Now the classes were small, but even then one quid was stretching things a bit. When it came to me and my mates turn to cook, we considered we had better uses for that pound coin (which meant a trip to the off-licence) so we were in a quandary as just what to cook and where to get it. I fell back on the old favourite of the rabbit and with the promise of free food, I lured my mate off whatever lessons we were supposed to have and we drove up to the hills nearby armed with an air rifle a-piece. The result of this was that not only did the class enjoy the meal, but we’d had a drink out of it (albeit a small one) and my mate had actually shot something and overcome his aversion to meat. More than that though, he’d really enjoyed the whole process!

 

Fast forward a few years and we are now living with the hunt ban, although it’s not actually a real “hunt†ban. Despite the anti-hunt fraternity’s best efforts, hunting was never banned – only a form of hunting was banned. Obviously this curtailed things for us a bit, but although the antis celebrated, they never got a ban pushed through. The very fact that we are allowed to shoot hares and foxes, despite us not being able to run them, means that this ban was nothing more than an exercise in public relations. Like so many things this government has done, it seems as long as they are seen to have done something, rather than actually properly doing it, seems to be enough. All surface and no substance. It must be agonising for them to watch the continued support for the hunts. If we accept that foxes are vermin and vermin needs to be controlled, which is clearly the conclusion that was reached, then we can accept this as logic. What really gets to me is the approach to an argument which is based on sentiment alone, which is what the anti-hunt people have been using for a very long time. They prey on emotions for arguments against necessary jobs that they have no stomach for themselves and then because they don’t agree with this, try and force their views on to other people with almost missionary zeal. This fanaticism is crazy and parallels can be drawn throughout history of other groups who set out to impose their views upon others. There’s no political bias to this either, as you only have to look at both ends of the spectrum, the extreme right and the extreme left, to see that groups who seek to control what others do use it regardless of persuasion. The regimes that have sought to hammer home their own views as right to the exclusion of all others are many and varied, with the suppression of free thought and speech in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Communist Cuba all guilty. It’s not something that has gone away either as we only have to look at China to see that. Nor is it all along political lines anymore now that religion has reared its head again. The intellectual approach would be to look at the problem and deal with it accordingly, but this would expose the holes in the argument from the fascist side of the debate. There is no place for cruelty in hunting, which both sides agree on, so the absence of this is something for us all to strive for. Anthropomorphism and misguided sentiment should not come into this argument whatsoever so that brings me back to logic. Vermin needs to be controlled. Fair enough if you don’t want the gig yourself, we know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Leave it to the people that know how to do it and take pride in it.

 

With the ban having gone through and a few years of people getting used to it, I see more and more youngsters who are becoming attracted to hunting. Maybe things have come full circle now? I’d like to think that the fact people are sick and tired of this government might draw some into the field sports fraternity or at the very least, cause them to questions certain things “told†to them. How many of them stay within its ranks is another question. Hopefully if we stick to the highest standards and attempt to instil them in any newcomers, there might be a few more hunters in twenty years time than there are my old school mates who are still eating nut cutlets.

 

After the ban went through, Jeff Banks admitted on air that it had nothing to do with the prevention of animal cruelty as it was perceived as striking back on behalf of the miners. Misguided class war acted out as ill conceived tit-for-tat politics. I’m sure the many miners who hunted are eternally grateful to the once hate-filled figure of Mr. Banks. The legacy of an idiot.

[Leeview 792]

Did your mate ever get that published stabs? I bet Im not the only member on here that wish they had wrote that ? It needs sending on to party headquarters to show what it means to the every day man in the street.

Y.I.S Leeview

[WILF 51,753]

Your "friend" really is much too talented for his own good mate .......to think that a fine literary mind is locked in a head with looks that I can only assume your "friend" has

 

Some good news , the LACS bitch that was my MP got the sack , but the Welsh and the Scots really f****d England over last night ....dont know where the f**k they think the moneys comming from to fund all their perks but they obviously think Labours the people to keep the taps running

[Stabs 3]

Your "friend" really is much too talented for his own good mate .......to think that a fine literary mind is locked in a head with looks that I can only assume your "friend" has

 

Some good news , the LACS bitch that was my MP got the sack , but the Welsh and the Scots really f****d England over last night ....dont know where the f**k they think the moneys comming from to fund all their perks but they obviously think Labours the people to keep the taps running

 

What the f**k is going on with that avatar?

[mexlad 189]

good read mate