Liam Stokes

Animal rights groups fail to rally outside of social media

Another attempt to bring animal rights activism off social media and into the real world has faltered. Nothing changes, does it? But before we move on past another small march in Westminster, it might be an idea to stop and take stock of the irregularities. There are lessons to be learned for politicians, for the media and for the BBC in particular. If you missed it, and you probably did, there was a march in Westminster this past weekend. There may have been more than one for all I know; small protests in London are not uncommon. But the march in question was led by the BBC’s own Chris Packham, with a supporting cast of animal rights organisations. It was a little incoherent, seeking to ban a range of activities including badger culling, legal hunting and grouse shooting, issues that are linked only by the fact they take place in the British countryside. In the office we took to calling it the ‘Ban Everything’ march. 

The Ban Everything march was billed as ‘Britain’s largest ever wildlife protection march’ by the Times the day before the event had even taken place, in an article discussing the internecine strife that was afflicting the march’s organisers. On the day, the Guardian and the Mail both published pieces online describing the ‘thousands’ who had taken to the streets.

Trouble is, these breathless descriptions of mass movement proved to be singularly untrue. A blogger who spoke at the march put the attendance at ‘over 600’, later clarifying they meant ‘over a thousand’.

Is that the ‘largest ever’ animal rights march in British history? I have no idea to be honest. I know that 116,000 people went to the Game Fair to celebrate all that’s great about shooting, hunting, fishing and the rural way of life just two weeks earlier.

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