BRITAIN’S ONLY SHOOTING INDUSTRY PUBLICATION
ISSUE 96 DECEMBER 2023
£4.95
TROPHY HUNTING BAN DROPPED
GTN GOES FULLY DIGITAL Printed copies to cease from next issue
King’s Speech makes no mention of the proposed legislation After what many saw as a successful campaign to derail it in the House Of Lords, the private members bill seeking to ban the import of Hunting Trophies introduced by Henry Smith (Con) has been dropped from the legislative programme. Confirmation came in the King’s Speech, with no mention made of the proposed legislation, signalling that it would not be implemented in this parliament. Some conservationists and pro-hunting groups hailed its removal as a great success, with GTN columnist Diggory Hadoke telling Shooting Times: “The entire political debate has leaned heavily on emotive and hysterical overreach by animal rights lobbyists and misguided tabloid media campaigns, which seem to exist in a bubble of wilful ignorance of the fact that sustainable sport hunting is the best conservation model in many countries and the only one in some.” However, those animal rights lobbyists were disappointed in the outcome, the following being typical of their responses: “As long as we accept the idea
that the only way to protect wildlife is to allow the rich to visit other countries and pay to torment and kill its native wildlife, alternative solutions… will continue to be overlooked,” argued Tricia Croasdell, World Animal Protection.
There remains the possibility that the legislation will be picked up in another parliament, but for now the threat seems to have passed. Turn to page 32 for the current legislative state of play with all the threats facing the trade.
MORE DEBANKING SCANDALS BASC names Barclays as antagonist in two cases The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) says it has been informed of more than two dozen debanking incidents involving at least 15 financial service companies, as reported by GTN columnist Conor O’Gorman in Shooting Times. Conor reported that a pattern was emerging for Barclays Bank, and that two shooting businesses wanted to share their stories with ST readers. Northall Clay Pigeon Club in East Sussex had banked with Barclays for many years without any issues, until one day in September they suddenly lost access to their online banking services. It transpired that Barclays had closed their business account. Bank staff asserted that a letter had been sent to the club, though none was reported to have been received. When a copy of this letter was pro-
vided, it contained no explanation other than it was a “difficult decision” to make. Mill Farm Clay Pigeon Club, also in East Sussex, saw their Barclays partnership business account suddenly shut down with no notice in December last year. The first they knew of this was being unable to access online banking.
Northall and Mill Farm clay pigeon clubs have since opened new accounts with Lloyds Bank. But these are not the only cases. Barclays is sending account holders forms to complete to prove their identity and the activities of their business or club. This can be a very invasive and timeconsuming process, and can involve inappropriate
STORE OF THE MONTH
AVOIDING FALLOUT
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE…
Drapers in Nottingham gets the treatment
Our legal eagle’s advice for potential business partners
Enjoy the latest issue of Gun Trade News. Sadly it will be the last to be printed. But that does not mean the end for your favourite magazine. Instead the future is bright and digital. We will continue to produce a monthly magazine, with the same quantity and quality of editorial, together with more newsletters and social media posting. The only difference will be that the end product will be purely digital. Richard Hease, Chairman of GTN’s publisher Stable Events said: “This marks the start of an exciting new journey for Gun Trade News, one that we hope will make it a fit-for-purpose media asset for the digital age. We look forward to working with all our partners to make sure we carry on delivering the information you need to conduct your business, and to take GTN to the next level.” To make sure of your subscription, please visit the Gun Trade News website—guntradenews .com—and follow the subscribe signposting. See editorial, page 3.
threats to close accounts and sudden actual unexplained closures. Whether Barclays is specifically targeting the shooting sector with these reviews is unclear, but it seems they are clearly not acting fairly and are potentially in breach of existing rules and regulations, based on what BASC has seen. BASC is supporting a number of live cases involving Barclays, and the Financial Ombudsman Service is currently investigating one case. The Financial Conduct Authority continues its review into banking services and BASC intends to submit further evidence to that. If you have been impacted, please email conor .ogorman@basc.org.uk
WORLD GUNMAKERS
The best of British and beyond gather in London – Page 35 –
