I refer to the threat from a British ‘animal rights’ activist (The Sunday Times, April 14) to boycott Maltese tourism, an idea which others before him are already carrying out, as demonstrated by the on-going boycott by German would-be tourists so well described recently in this newspaper by the outgoing German Ambassador to Malta. This notwithstanding, tourism to Malta is thriving, while hunting is also flourishing.

That a certain Lawrie Phipps from Britain is thinking of a tourism boycott to force a hunting ban is of no consequence. His extremist idea is not shared by Birdlife Malta that, in contrast, encourages people, especially bird lovers, to visit our country.

Indeed, the fanaticism of some UK animal rights activists is well documented. Violent attacks, devastation of hunters’ property, intimidation letters, arson, contamination of supermarket food products and death threats have all been recorded.

Mr Phipps wants to hit our economy because of hunting illegalities and the fact, as he alleges, that spring hunting is allowed only in Malta and, worse, “in collusion with government”. This British anti-hunter needs to get his facts right. Firstly, spring hunting of certain species goes on under derogation in other member states, including Britain.

Secondly, Maltese spring hunting is the result of a historic ruling made by the EU Court of Justice on September 10, 2009. The Maltese government is merely putting into practice the ECJ’s decision, and it does that with the “collusion” of the European Commission to boot.

Interestingly, Mr Phipps acknowledges that wildlife crime in the UK is no small issue, as the annual DEFRA (UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) reports confirm. Therefore, will Mr Phipps start a tourist boycott of Britain? After all, charity begins at home.