That ‘horrible man’ Tony Blair introduced Hunting Act to appease back benchers,’ says farmer

A farmer accused of encouraging illegal fox hunting has claimed the ‘tiny proportion’ of convicted huntsmen had the ‘evidence stacked against them’. Mark Hankinson, 60, the Director of the Masters of the Foxhounds Association, said many of the convictions under the Hunting Act 2004 were wrong. Wearing a grey pinstripe suit and polka-dot tie, Hankinson told Westminster Magistrates’ Court: ‘If I may put it into some perspective, there are nearly 250 registered packs of hounds in England, Scotland and Wales…