Word reaches Mr S of a bizarre story emerging from Africa. Sir Roger Gale, king of the Tory discontents, is embroiled in an extraordinary war of words with the president of Botswana over allegations of corruption, hunting tourism and deliberate disinformation. Alongside bashing Boris and serving the good people of North Thanet, Sir Roger’s interests include animal welfare, with the longtime backbencher being an ardent critic of big game trophy hunters.
Gale attacked Botswana’s president Mokgweetsi Masisi last Saturday in an online debate for committing ‘vandalism’ by allowing hunting tourism in his country. The former Tory vice-chair described hunting as ‘murder’ and implied that Masisi personally benefitted financially from it, in an online discussion hosted the animal-rights MojoStreaming website. Speaking about the country’s short-lived ban on hunting tourism in the 2010s, Gale said:
In Botswana there was a change of government, as you know, and the president who introduced the ban was ousted. And for wholly personal commercial interests, an incoming president [Masisi] then broke the ban, and that has damaged the wildlife population, not improved it.
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