Country life
Not all ugly and stupid
Leanda de Lisle
We, and the other guests in our club, woke early on the morning of The March. Peter was all for rushing downstairs for breakfast, but I reminded him that we were going to the Countryside Alliance breakfast at the Savoy. There was plenty of time to lie in bed with the papers. The Express on Sunday had an interview with Jack Cun- ningham. He felt some sympathy for the marchers, I read, but they were being manipulated by sinister interests, so he wouldn't be joining them. I don't know why I was surprised. At the other end of the Express I had complained how television commonly portrays country people as ugly, unpleasant and, above all, stupid. But this black propaganda shocked as well as angered me. I couldn't stay in bed a moment longer.
Down in the lobby people were queuing for the packed lunches the club had thoughtfully organised, but we rushed by. I hoped Dr Cunningham would be at the Savoy. Instead, the place was full of famous Tory faces. 'A great pity,' in the view of one hunting peer. We remember the suburban Tories who failed to oppose a ban on fox- hunting and the farmers who are still pay- ing for John Major's little war with Europe. But, above all, we don't want the country- side to become a political football. At last I spotted a Labour man by the breakfast bar: Lord Donoughue. Good manners dragged me down, as they so often do. I hesitated — and he was gone. Cursing my circum- spection, I left with Peter to join the march.
There, down on the Embankment, I saw him again, giving an interview to Sky News. This time, I determined, there would be no escape for him. I introduced myself as soon as he was off camera. 'Oh, yes,' he said, read your column.' Confused (but thrilled), I stumbled on.
What was all this nonsense Cunningham had been saying, then? Had some spin doc- tor told Labour politicians to take a leaf out of Hillary Clinton's book — right-wing conspiracies, and all that? Lord Donoughue looked upset. In his view the marchers had honest reasons to demon- strate and, by the way, he was against the Foster Bill. 'I'm sorry, I didn't know. How ignorant of me,' I apologised. Lowering my eyes in shame I noticed there was a tape- recorder under my nose. 'Are you a jour- nalist?' I asked the fat man holding it. No, he was a minder from the Ministry. He had to ensure Lord Donoughue wasn't mis- quoted. Well, journalists can be rather lazy, his charge pointed out, mildly. 'Oh yes, of course,' I agreed (thinking of the home- work book I had to forge in the lower fifth). But then I turned to the fat man and said, 'I hope you don't think I'd be deliber- ately dishonest?' He looked stunned and switched the recorder off.
My brother-in-law saw the Sky interview later in the day. The importance of the hunting issue was played down, but the newsreel couldn't help but show that 80 per cent of the banners referred to Foster's Bill. There were hunting print tea-towels, hand-written slogans on A4 paper and even a fox stole on a stick, being carried by young, old, dukes and dustmen, but no one looked used to this demonstrating malarkey. We started walking in silence, while our bolder comrades blew whistles. But then you'd spot a friend in thk crowd and shout a greeting. 'It's like a moving cocktail party,' one said. At an Under- ground station a handful of antis shouted abuse. The marchers seemed uncertain how to respond, but then a sab blew a hunting-horn. We waved our fists cheerful- ly.
A pipe band from Paris (yes, Paris France) was marching in St James's, and was followed by a great roll of claps and cheers. How sad that so many of the Scots were stuck in the snow in the north. Hear- ing the pipes was one of the most moving parts of a day in which there was much to tug at the heart. Silly things like banners dangling from the In and Out, London Underground ticket inspectors helping people cope with the automatic barriers and mongrel dogs walking at heel in Sloane Square. What did it all mean? Foster's Bill is an attack on our freedom. That's why the hunting issue is important. I hope the penny will drop in the tiny brains of at least 411 MPs. But it's funny, isn't it? It's not the press, it's not our elected representatives who are doing the most to defend liberty, equality and fraternity on the cusp of the millennium. It's the derided folk from the country.
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