Kate Hoey

As Westminster and Dublin compete with performative new tobacco bans, smokers on the island of Ireland will be forced to dodge between jurisdictions and shifting laws just to buy a pack of cigarettes. Starting in February 2028, adults under the age of 21 in the Republic of Ireland will be barred from buying tobacco at home but will still be able to nip across the border to stock up in Northern Ireland. But once the UK’s generational smoking ban begins, the farcical cross-border relay will reverse, with 22-year-olds banned from buying tobacco in Belfast still free to do so in Dublin. As the years go by, the legal absurdity only deepens.

Most laws enacted nearly 20 years ago become uncontroversial with the passage of time. The Hunting Act, though, is not one of them. As hunts gather today for their traditional Boxing Day meet, the latest chapter in this ongoing story involves fresh claims about Labour and past ‘cash for commitments’. Central to these is the allegation that the pledge to ban hunting with hounds in the 1997 party manifesto was effectively purchased by a £1 million donation. Shortly before the election, the Labour party received that figure from Political Animal Lobby, now known as Animal Survival International. It has always been a fair assumption that such a large sum had a significant impact on Labour policy, particularly on hunting. But until recently we could not say that definitively.

The public can always tell an election is near when the photo opportunities start to increase. Just such an occasion occurred on the 10th anniversary of the Hunting Act in November, when the Parliamentary Labour Party office invited MPs to have a photograph taken, ‘with a large fox holding up a sign saying “Back the ban”.’ Needless to say, I did not attend. In his book Last Man Standing, Jack Straw says with regard to hunting: ‘To me, banning it was a nonsense issue for a serious party making a determined bid for government after 18 years in opposition. It was best left alone.’ Ten years after the Hunting Act was passed, Jack has been proven to be right.