ONE should not feel too sorry for Helen Weeks on reading her complaint that the Hunting Act has been 'tested to destruction'. Hunting Act must be tightened up, Points of view August 8.

The reason that the law falls apart when tested is that it is so poorly constructed. The reason it is so poorly constructed is that those who drafted it refused to listen to criticism. This came not only from the Countryside Alliance, which continually warned it would not be enforceable, but also from the Government.

The Government failed to get a bill through that it had at least attempted to base on 'principle and evidence'. The principle being improvement in animal welfare and the evidence being that from the Burns enquiry.

Margaret Becket warned anti-hunt MPs that "no bill on a simple ban has ever been thought to be workable". She pleaded with colleagues not to wreck the bill but they did just that and this is why we have the current flawed legislation.

Helen Weeks complains about the exemptions. These were required because they refused to go down the far more sensible route of licensing hunts on the basis of animal welfare. The then Defra Minister Alun Michael warned that the attempt at a total ban "will not be workable without further amendment" and that a complete ban "would destroy the architecture of the Bill".

One of the problems with the law is that it is unclear exactly what it does ban. I have received three responses from Defra regarding my practice of using dogs to flush out and chase wild deer. Initially it said chasing away is legal, then it said it is illegal. Now farming minister Jim Fitzpatrick has written to me acknowledging it simply does not know.

More worrying still is his explanation as to why the law states that deer can only be flushed out of cover if they are then shot. The farming minister explains this is to prevent people from using the flushing exemption as an excuse to break the law.

What is the principle behind a law which requires potential victims of a crime to be shot dead in order to prevent a crime taking place? The chances of a Labour Government spending a nano second more on this issue are zero. The next step is repeal

Giles Bradshaw

Rose Ash, South Molton

(by email)