Ban Import of Hunting Trophies

Thank you to everyone who contacted me about trophy hunting . Please know I am 100% committed to supporting our Government’s pledge to ban the import of hunting trophies into Great Britain. I know Ministers intend to deliver on this. I understand they are currently engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and considering the most effective way to achieve a ban.

I know many organisations, including Humane World for Animals, the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, Protect the Wild, the Born Free Foundation and the League Against Cruel Sports, support such a ban.

I agree that trophy hunting is outdated, cruel and indefensible. Tens of thousands of animals are killed annually for fun, for people to take photos and take home body parts as souvenirs.

In 2016, the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that at least 1.7 million animal trophies were traded between countries in the previous decade, with at least 200,000 coming from species categorised as threatened.

The trade is exacerbating the decline of threatened species and brings unnecessary suffering to animals. Britons rightly consider themselves a nation of animal lovers. However, in my view, the things British trophy hunters do should shame us all.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this sensitive and saddening issue. I assure you I will follow developments on this matter and support steps to bring about an end to hunting trophy imports into the UK.