- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday October 11 2006 00.09 BST
- The Guardian, Wednesday October 11 2006
David Miliband, the environment secretary, is facing protests from Labour party anti-hunt activists after he posed for pictures with Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, at the Labour conference in Manchester.
A complaint against Mr Miliband is to made to Labour's national executive committee accusing him of giving publicity to the alliance, whose supporters were seen to be behind a campaign at the last election to unseat Labour MPs who oppose hunting.
The row broke out after Labour organised a visit for Mr Miliband to selected stands, which included the Countryside Alliance and the RSPCA, at the party's conference last month. The alliance put the picture on its website.
Chris Gale, chairman of Chippenham Labour party, who is to lodge the complaint, said: "I am frankly disgusted at David Miliband pandering at our conference to an organisation that coordinated (and intends to do so again on an even bigger scale) the removal of many of his parliamentary Labour colleagues at the last election and whose membership have committed violent acts and intimidation towards Labour members and activists."
Helen Weeks, a hunt monitor from West Coker, Somerset, said: "For Miliband to visit their stand for a photocall is a slap in the face ... I am so angry I feel like cutting my LP membership card into tiny pieces and posting it to David Miliband." Judi Hunt, an anti-hunt campaigner from north Wales, said: "It will be a mistake the Labour party live to regret."
Rodney Hale, from Crediton, Devon, has written to Mr Miliband, accusing him of "cosying up" to Countryside Alliance members in Manchester, and describing it as "a slap in the face ... for thousands of voters who placed their trust in New Labour in 1997 and subsequently".
He described Mr Miliband's action as "an astonishing error of judgment".
A Labour spokeswoman said Mr Miliband "was there to discuss the government's white paper on rural issues with one of the main stakeholders, the Countryside Alliance. It included issues like rural housing, the future of post offices and wildlife. There is no reason why the secretary of state should not engage in dialogue with people he may not agree with." Mr Hart said the alliance included Tory and Labour members "so it should not be surprising that he came to talk to us. My only complaint is that he didn't stay long enough for a proper discussion after he posed for the picture."
