With just one week until polling day in the General Election, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is urging its members and everyone who shoots to check their election candidates’ views on shooting before casting a vote.
BASC’s dedicated General Election campaign website allows people to identify their local candidates, check their views on shooting and to contact them. BASC has also made resources available to pass on key messages about the Value of Shooting to candidates.
The site can be found at http://politics.0ld.basc.org.uk
BASC chairman Alan Jarrett said: “We need to make sure shooting’s voice is heard through the noise surrounding this General Election. BASC has a membership of over 140,000 and our members live and vote in constituencies right across the UK – in towns, in the country and on the coast. Our message is simple – shooting is a force for good. It is good for the economy, for conservation and for the countryside. Please use BASC’s election website to check out your candidates’ views on shooting before you cast your vote.”
BASC has published a series of easy-to-read infographics which set out the key points about the Value of Shooting. They can be downloaded, emailed, printed and shared on social media.
BASC chief executive Richard Ali said: “We know shooting is worth £2 billion to the economy every year; that it generates annual conservation spending of £250 million and supports the equivalent of 74,000 full-time jobs. BASC’s election website and the information resources about shooting are there to help people spread the message about the Value of Shooting.
“We want candidates going into this election to be aware of the facts and we want MPs in the next Parliament to know that shooting is an essential part of British life; providing jobs, food, conservation work and adding to people’s personal and social wellbeing. BASC will insist that the next Parliament and Government deal with shooting based on facts and evidence and not on assumption and prejudice. Now is the time to be making prospective MPs aware of the facts.”
BASC’s infographics for download and sharing can be found here
For more information please call the BASC press office on 01244 573052 or email press@0ld.basc.org.uk