Government has not tackled animal issues in this way. And then there is the hunting issue. British animal rights proponents have waged a long, bitter battle to stop blood sports, focusing on fox hunting with hounds. Polls show that a majority of the public supports a ban. Of course, there is a class element to this debate.
Conservative supporters tend to have more money and they frequently win in affluent country seats.
Conservatives have pointed out that Labour has explicitly refused to consider curbs or a ban on angling for fish, because a lot of their supporters do fish. I'm suspicious about the sudden Conservative concern for fish, when deer and foxes apparently aren't a focus of their concern, but they do have a point. But this is the first time we have a major political party, and now one with the power to do something about it, promising a free vote on the issue. The animal rights issue has finally been injected into the forefront of serious political debate. We are left with the question of whether the rise of the influence of women and the rise of the political import of the animal rights debate is just a coincidence or whether there is a joint impetus on these issues.