I WOULD like to thank GR Holwill for acknowledging that my illegal activities are in fact benign. As someone who is passionate about animal welfare and conservation this means a lot to me.

To answer his question my motivations for highlighting the absurdity of the Hunting Act are manifest.

Firstly, I want the law changed to make the non-lethal, welfare-friendly dispersal of deer with dogs legal without them being shot dead. In a recent case the judge ruled that deer can only be deliberately flushed out if 10 guns are positioned in case there be an entire herd present.

The League Against Cruel Sports celebrated this ruling. I do not think that the law should require such wholesale destruction of this country's native fauna.

Secondly, I would like to see animal welfare legislation strengthened by its replacement with a law which bans all deliberate cruelty to wild animals, howsoever caused, coupled with the political will to enforce such legislation. Cruelty to animals is wrong and it should be banned.

Thirdly, I would like to have a political class that is willing to actually engage with members of the public and admit when they have got matters wrong — as is clearly the case here.

I have written to Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw for the past three years about this issue. Mr Bradshaw may be all charm and smiles when he wants to be. However, when faced with questions, it does not suit him to answer — and all that one received is the tight-lipped arrogance of a typical Labour minister.

GILES BRADSHAW Rose Ash, South Molton