Stuart Anderson

Living in a rural community is a brilliant way of life. It is beautiful, but it comes with remoteness and other issues. I have lived in an urban area and a rural area, and they are different, although there are things that connect them. I want to point out a few really important things that I have found in rural communities. I have spoken before about hospitality and farming—they will always be up there—which are struggling and facing issues at the moment, but I want to speak about the upcoming consultation on changes to shotgun licensing, which my hon. Friend the Member for North Cotswolds (Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown) just spoke about eloquently. That will have a serious impact on shotgun holders who require the use of a shotgun not just for their job, but for pastimes. If a third of shotgun users do not renew their licences, it will cost the UK economy over £1 billion. I have one of the constituencies with the most shotgun licences. I would like the Minister to take this issue seriously. Any changes to the licensing rules for shotguns will have a huge knock-on impact. The other area I want to touch on, which a few people have spoken about, is trail hunting. The proposed ban on trail hunting will have a big impact on rural communities. I get that not everybody thinks the same way as me. I grew up hunting, shooting and fishing, although I have never been on a horse in my life. What trail hunting communities do to support their local areas is great—there are some great people. I have just launched a survey of my constituents, which has been filled in by almost 2,000 people, and 63% of South Shropshire constituents want trail hunting to continue. It is a rural way of life that gives £78 million to £100 million back to the rural economy.