Sean Woodcock, the MP for Banbury, has joined parliamentarians from several parties in pressing the Government for wider changes to hunting legislation.
Their intervention calls for a complete prohibition on trail hunting and the closure of legal exemptions that, according to campaigners, allow some hunts to continue while presenting themselves as following lawful trails.
The cross-party letter acknowledges the Government’s commitment to ban trail hunting but maintains that a prohibition alone would not address the wider legal framework.
Those behind the letter say reforms are needed to remove loopholes, increase penalties for breaches and prohibit hunting of wild mammals with dogs, including activity described as reckless or accidental.
Nadia Whittome MP, Kate Osborne MP, Clive Lewis MP, John McDonnell MP, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay MP and Sean Woodcock MP were among the signatories.
Baroness Natalie Bennett also signed the letter.
Support came from the RSPCA, League Against Cruel Sports, PETA, Animal Aid, Born Free, FOUR PAWS UK and the Badger Trust.
Signatories cited polling indicating majority support for stricter hunting laws, including substantial backing in rural communities.
They asked ministers to release consultation findings promptly and bring legislation before Parliament during the next session.
The appeal follows the Labour Party’s 2024 General Election manifesto, which committed the party to banning trail hunting, strengthening animal-welfare protections and building on the Hunting Act 2004.
It also reflects increasing pressure for tighter restrictions on hunting.
Clive Lewis MP separately wrote to Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle MP about what he described as the continuing danger posed to foxes and other wild animals under the Hunting Act.
He requested a trail-hunting ban, removal of exemptions that could enable hunting, tougher punishment for violations and measures against wild mammals being hunted with dogs.
Those responsible for the two letters said recurring allegations that hunts were using trail hunting to conceal unlawful activity had weakened confidence in the existing rules and demonstrated the case for broader reform.
Woodcock’s participation places him in a growing group of MPs seeking an extensive overhaul of hunting law rather than a stand-alone ban on trail hunting.
Hunt saboteurs have alleged that Oxfordshire is a centre for hunt groups.
On October 17, an anti-hunting protest took place after protesters accused St John’s College, Oxford, of permitting the Warwickshire Hunt to cross land at Heathcote Farm near Stratford-upon-Avon.
The protest concerned an alleged illegal hunt on September 1, a claim the college has strongly denied.