At its meeting last week, the board of the Countryside Alliance decided on the date Sunday September 22nd 2002 for a major London march.

This march will form a key part of - but is not a replacement for - the varied and continuous programme of events and demonstrations which the Alliance has already confirmed it will be mounting as part of its ‘Summer of Discontent’ and beyond.

Alliance Chief Executive Richard Burge said, “The purpose of this march will be to show Parliament that it would be foolish to ignore the scale and depth of distrust and anger rural people feel at this moment. Politically, the countryside is tinder-dry.

Hunting has become the touchstone for the countryside’s over-all concerns. Rural people have lost faith that the institution of Parliament will deliver a fair and just resolution to this problem”.