Spring hunting

We all know that in spring hunters shoot at anything that flies. The politicians also know this but they are too concerned about the votes they would lose to do anything to keep in line with the agreement made with the European Union during membership negotiations.

The government has argued with the EU that the Maltese people gave it the mandate to join on condition that spring hunting would continue on turtle doves and quails only. What the government is not saying is that it has never enforced the limitation to turtle doves and quails and that hunters are constantly and flagrantly breaking the conditions of the derogation.

If political parties, whether in government or not, wish to continue to pander to the hunters' whims, then I hope that they, as well as hunters' societies, will immediately start to collect funds. Then the fine that Malta will have to pay for breaking the conditions of the derogation can come from these funds rather than from the pockets of taxpayers who would much rather have Malta aligned with EU regulations on hunting.