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Listening to local
people: There is no desire to legalise foxhunting as the Tories wish
One thing I've learned
above all as local MP is this: Never assume you know what people are thinking.
Politicians who take the electorate for granted are toast. The landscape
is littered with those who foolishly thought they knew local opinion.
Only they didn't, because they didn't ask.
Any representative has to get out, ask and listen hard - very hard. That's
why as local MP I've held twice-weekly surgeries, coffee mornings and
other events right across North East Somerset since 1997. It's why I actively
seek views on people's doorsteps, and run numerous surveys and consultations
too.
The point is well illustrated over foxhunting. There are those who arrogantly
claim it's not a significant issue. They're completely wrong. Anyone who
gets out and about and listens to real people knows it's very important.
There's a genuine feeling that the way we treat animals is a measure of
how civilised a society we are. And over 90 per cent of people responding
to my February survey across Peasedown St John want hunting to stay banned.
There's no desire to legalise foxhunting. Quite the opposite: strengthening
the ban is what people are asking for, and I'm determined to do, with
your continued support.
Written for the
Somerset Guardian
March 2010
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