Prince Charles lobbied Tony Blair over fox hunting ban
Prince Charles wrote a series of confidential letters lobbying Tony Blair over the foxhunting ban before it became law, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The Prince is known to have been an opponent of the ban at the time of the secret correspondence in 2002, when Blair’s Labour Government was steering the legislation through Parliament.
The existence of the letters will add to the controversy over the Prince’s active role in politically contentious subjects.
Prince Charles (left) wrote a series of confidential letters lobbying Tony Blair (right) over the foxhunting ban before it became law
The Prince is a keen supporter of foxhunting after taking up the sport aged 26
He is known to have lobbied Government departments on a wide variety of issues, including global warming and architecture.
The Freedom of Information watchdog has now ordered that the letters be published, but the Government is stalling over their release.
The Prince is a keen supporter of foxhunting after taking up the sport aged 26. He is reported to have told a private gathering in 2002: ‘If the Labour Government ever gets around to banning foxhunting, I might as well leave this country and spend the rest of my life skiing.’
The existence of the letters has been uncovered after a 27-month battle between The Mail on Sunday and the Cabinet Office.
In April 2015, the MoS used information access laws t o ask for letters exchanged by the Prince and Prime Minister Blair in 2002.
The request specifically asked for ‘all correspondence and communications’ exchanged by the Prince and Mr Blair which ‘in any way referred to hunting and or a ban on hunting and or the impact of hunting and the impact of a ban on the countryside’.
It also asked for details of any meetings between the two men covering the same topics.
The Cabinet Office initially refused to confirm whether it held any relevant information. But now the Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has confirmed that the letters exist and ruled that there is a ‘clear and compelling public interest’ for them to be made public.
She said the correspondence ‘raises legitimate questions about the role of the heir to the throne in a parliamentary democracy and increasingly the role he may pla y when he succeeds to the throne’.
The Cabinet Office had argued that the correspondence was confidential and that the Prince of Wales would have had a reasonable expectation that it would remain so.
But Ms Denham said such expectations had been undermined by the subsequent introduction of access legislation, including the Freedom of Information Act.
The letters between the Prime Minister and the Prince may shed light on why Mr Blair was to later change his view on the foxhunting ban, which came into force in 2005 (file photo)
The letters between the Prime Minister and the Prince may shed light on why Mr Blair was to later change his view on the foxhunting ban, which came into force in 2005.
In 2010, he admitted the ban had been a mistake. He said: ‘It’s not that I particularly like hunting or have ever engaged in it or would.
‘I didn’t quite understand, and I reproach myself for this, that for a group of people in our society in the countryside this was a fundamental part of their way of life.’
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: ‘Prince Charles has always been clear about his concern for the countryside and rural communi ties so it would be no surprise if he had raised this issue with the government of the day.
‘Tony Blair was, eventually, persuaded that banning hunting was a huge mistake. It is a shame that he did not take notice much earlier of the many people who predicted what a failure it would be.’
It is not certain that the letters will be released because the Cabinet Office could successfully appeal against the Information Commissioner’s decision.
A spokesman for Clarence House last night declined to comment. A Cabinet Office spokesman said it was ‘considering the decision of the Information Commissioner’s Office and will respond in due course’.
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