Written By: Llin Golding
On Date: 15/3/2005
Martin Salter's vitriolic attack on the Alliance is neither accurate or justified - nor is it anything new. As an Ex Labour MP I accepted the position of Chairman of the Alliance's Campaign for Angling because of its politically neutral stance. But this should not be confused with an inability or unwillingness to express a view.
We condemned the Tories for suggesting they scrap rod licences and have welcomed Ben Bradshaw's sensible approach to the cormorant issue, and for our shooting friends his u-turn on Open General Licences for pigeons and crows.
We have nearly 25,000 fisherman on our books and all of them want us to pursue an independent, proactive agenda for angling, that defends it from attack and champions its virtues. What is more we are happy to work with any organisation with complementary aims.
We were part of the creation of the initiative 'Get Hooked on Fishing' (now a charity) and have managed to get our 'Water Matters' education pack to thousands of secondary schools in England and Wales. Our political operation in London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff (and Europe) scrutinises every piece of new legislation for anything that might - even accidentally - impinge on our sport.
Where we freely admit to being a bit different from other pressure groups is that we represent country sports in the context of rural Britain as a whole, trying always to look at them all rather than as individuals. The separation of any of our activities from each other we believe is dangerous. Farming, land use, tourism, business, sport and the environment all overlap. Isolation brings with it only risk.
I find it a shame that Martin Salter chooses to ignore the Alliance in the many positive areas in which it is working for angling and shooting.
The Alliance does not campaign for or against individuals or parties. What it does do is to encourage people to be part of the political process, and provides information to enable them to do that.
Yours etc
Llin Golding
Chairman, Campaign for Angling
367 Kennington Road
London
SE11 4PT
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