IT'S TORY-HUNTING TIME, SO TALLY-HO!

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The Labour farmer whistles and the BBC sheepdog comes running.
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Hilary Benn, in a blatant bit of electioning, wrote an 'open letter' to David Cameron asking why he supported a repeal of the hunting ban. The Today programme heard its master's call and ran with the story throughout this morning's programme.
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At 6.35 James Naughtie and Norman Smith (or Crick Jnr, as I call him) previewed the issue. Norm always points out the dangers for the Tories in whatever they're proposing, and today was no different: "There are I think risks for the Tories here because there is a danger that they find themselves pinned into a sort of core vote corner (as if Benn wasn't aiming at his core vote with this 'open letter'!) or enable Labour to accuse them of a core-vote strategy (which, thinking on his feet, you'll notice Smithie has already 'sort of' done) by saying, "Well look, well here you have the Tories, they're going on about fox-hunting and inheritance tax and marriage and Europe and so on" (and, if Labour doesn't say that, Norman Smith certainly will - as he did here). In other words they get up and running the 'same old Tories' argument. And there is also the very practical danger that if you have a Tory government do they really want to get bogged down in a row over fox-hunting..."
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Like a good mini-me-Crick Smith used 'Tory/Tories' 9 times and 'Conservative/Conservatives' just once.
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Then at At 7.34 Andrew Hosken presented a 'balanced report' on the subject. The report began by spending time with two 'monitors' from the League Against Cruel Sports. The 'monitors' spoke and Hosken didn't challenge them in any of his questions. The middle part of the report was spent at a hunt. Here Hosken talked to huntsmen (and ladies) but, unlike with the anti-hunt guys, he did ask challenging questions. The report then returned to the guys from the League.
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Hosken did, however, point out that the Police said that there have been only three successful prosecutions under the act. This ran counter to claims by anti-hunting groups which Norman Smith was keen to mention in the earlier discussion, in a cack-handed attempt to weaken the Tory position: "The Conservatives view it as a grotesque waste of police time, though I have to say on the police prosecution side of things there's no agreement there either because while opponents (sic!!) of fox hunting say there's only been a handful of prosecutions, if you talk to the anti-hunting people (as Norm clearly has been) they say there's been more than a hundred successful prosecutions." Who's right? Norm's anti-hunting people, or the Conservatives and the police?
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Then at 8.50 came the coup-de-grace - an interview with Hilary Benn himself, who was invited on to (as the Today programme website puts it) "explain the thinking behind his letter." We know what the thinking is. There's a general election coming. The interview was conducted by James 'When we win the election' Naughtie (I.C. of 0.8). "Fox-hunting is back on the political agenda", he said. Of course it is. The BBC is a very well-trained sheepdog.
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The BBC News website also heard the call and immediately began rounding up the Tory sheep: 'Labour presses Cameron on plans to repeal hunting ban' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8521030.stm. This gives lifelong politician Hilary Benn and his supporters the fox's share of the article, even interrupting the closing section - where the Conservative pack is allowed a brief say - with yet more anti-hunt/anti-Tory opinion. And not for the first time there's a reminder of a Tory's past that's clearly planted in an attempt to undermine his position: "In October, shadow environment secretary Nick Herbert - who once worked for the British Field Sports Society - described the hunting ban as an "affront" to civil liberties and "completely unworkable"."
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Norman Smith's young colleague Ross Hawkins also obeyed Labour's whistle. Here's his article on the BBC News website (yes, there's two today!!):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8521072.stm. At least he's fairer than his colleagues.
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