If the elections demonstrated anything, they demonstrated that the hunting lobby is a spent force.

The leaders of this group of men are now going around saying that they didn't direct their members to vote for any particular party this time, implying that next time they will.

If you believe that, you'll believe anything. From the reaction of columnist Toni Abela in l-orizzont mere days after the result, it was clear that the MLP was expecting a boost from the hunters. Anyone with even an ounce of brain could see that there was an anti-PN slant to the way the hunters were speaking publicly, for all that they were being wooed by AzzNazz

. Be that as it may be, as we all know, the PN got back in and the hunters are now faced with the very same Government against which they have been fighting and demonstrating for years. And they know this and are worried by it, too. How else would you explain phrases such as "God forbid the hunting season doesn't open"?

My reaction to this sort of threat is "and what will you do about it?" I'm fascinated by the arrogance of these people. They think, after the electorate has made it clear that hunters and their demands are not a factor in the equation, that they can make ludicrous statements like that. Then they compound their arrogance by making thinly disguised threats about breaking the law.

Which means, putting it simply, that it is now time for the hunting lobby to be told precisely where it gets off. And where it gets off is right here, as far as I am concerned.

Spring hunting should be banned, once and for all and no waiting for court cases. I don't want my tax euros to be used to pay a fine because the government didn't have the back-bone to stand up to these people.

I don't want these people to be allowed to carry on slaughtering anything that flies and I don't want them to be allowed to threaten and bully anyone who dares to oppose them. By their own actions and attitudes, these people have come to the table with dirty hands and I don't want to eat with them.

It was bad enough having to put up with their posturing and preening before the elections, with their apologists whining about how the Government had fooled them. Now the country doesn't need to worry about these people holding us to ransom for their selfish ends. While on the allegation that they were fooled by the government in the run-up to the EU Referendum, incidentally, so what if they fooled themselves?

It was necessary for the country to join the EU and if it was necessary to play on the innate laziness of people who like killing things with automatic weapons, people who seem to be incapable of looking after their interests professionally and properly, then so be it. These people are old enough to be allowed in possession of a lethal weapon, so it has to be assumed that they are old enough to understand facts that are in plain view. And the fact is that Spring hunting is illegal.

A country that respects the rule of law cannot tolerate the law being broken. Therefore, Spring hunting must be banned. Is that such a difficult concept to understand?