The British Association for Shooting Conservation (BASC) has hit back with the facts following a motion put forward by Liverpool City Council that seeks a complete opposition to “shooting live game, in the UK or overseas” and says it “is barbaric in all cases”.
The announcement from the Council follows the Liverpool Exhibition Centre terminating the contract for next year’s Great British Shooting Show after intervention from the Mayor, Joe Anderson.
The Great British Shooting Show was due to host its first event in Liverpool in September 2020, but as a result of political pressure has been forced out.
Garry Doolan, BASC’s deputy director of communications, said: “The Mayor’s poorly-advised intervention appears to put him seriously at odds with his own party which only last week at its annual conference spoke of the importance of shooting to the economy and environment.
“The motion shows a complete disregard for the reality of the British countryside and is an attack and slur on the British shooting community that is both unfair and unwarranted.
“To state that shooting game in the UK is ‘barbaric in all cases and threatens species that are already precarious’ is a woeful misrepresentation of the reality of ethical, sustainable shooting.
“There are around 5,000 lawful and legitimate firearms and shotgun owners on Merseyside who play their part in an activity that is worth around £2 billion each year to the UK economy.
“Shooting keeps people in jobs, supports fragile rural economies with trade to pubs and B&Bs and has helped create and manage the countryside as we know it. Shooting and its conservation work is involved in the management of two-thirds of the rural land in the UK.
“BASC is seeking clarification from the Council and has already contacted the Mayor’s office and MPs in the Liverpool area to gain assurances that this damaging motion is retracted.
“BASC will not stand by to see shooting and British companies impeded by unscientific and unreasoned motions.”
The motion is due to debated and voted on at the city council’s next meeting on Wednesday 16 October.