So that had nothing to do with fox hunting being barbaric? If you need to cull the fox population use poison, shoot or trap them but watching dogs rip them to pieces is not and should never be a sport.
Of course it did, the point I am making is that for many Tories in the Shire Countys' Fox Hunting was part of their community and had been for years, just as Mining had been at the heart of many Labour communities.
When the Tories started in on the miners, it wasn't just about reforming a bloated Nationalised industry that had been at the heart of the first miners strike, the second round was political, about decimating hardened Labour communities, places where as the saying went, they didn't count the Labour vote
they weighed it!
Then the next Labour government, who some might argue had better things to do with the Parliamentary time, made time to start in on taking down Fox hunting. It is true there were and had been for a while, many objections to Fox hunting, both vocal and via demonstrations etc. but remember this so called 'sport ' had been going on for years under previous Labour Governments, but no attempt to make it illegal had been taken.
I am not suggesting any government would simply take action just to start a fight or just to get even, but when in Government you get to choose the order of business, set the agenda, etc. especially with a whopping majority it is inevitable a Government will seek /choose those matters which need to be done, but will also give the opposition a 'bloody-nose'. It is in the nature of 'combative politics', especially in a two party set up.