What does the pledge mean?

The Hunting Act 2004 banned the traditional hunting of foxes with dogs in England and Wales, as well as the hunting of other wild mammals, except in certain circumstances.

Trail hunting mimics traditional hunting with dogs, but rather than chasing a live animal the hounds are encouraged to follow a pre-laid scent. This is usually created by dragging a cloth soaked in fox urine or other animal scent—which the hounds are trained to respond to—along the ground.

However, animal rights campaigners have raised concerns that trail hunting is being used as a “smokescreen” to cover up illegal hunting, as the hounds sometimes pick up the scent of a live animal which they chase and kill. Those defending trail hunting say that when this happens “hunt staff stop the hounds as soon as they are made aware that the hounds are no longer following a trail that has been laid”.

But this may not always be the case. Claims that hounds accidentally pursued and killed a live mammal instead of following a trail hunting scent is a common line of defence in prosecutions under the 2004 Act. Prosecutions are successful if they can prove there was no attempt to stop the hounds in such instances. However, the Countryside Alliance have criticised the proposed ban, citing the hundreds of prosecutions that take place under the current Act each year. They argue the practice maintains social traditions without harming live animals.

This pledge applies to England and Wales, as this policy area is devolved from Westminster to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Scotland banned the practice of trail hunting in 2023. In Northern Ireland, neither traditional hunting with dogs nor trail hunting is banned, although a proposed private member’s bill would change this if passed.

No timeframe was put on the pledge in Labour’s manifesto, nor did it spell out a definition for trail hunting.

We have asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) what definition it intends to use, and will update this article if we receive a response.

Since no timeframe was set out, we assume this pledge is intended to be delivered by the end of this parliament.

What progress has been made?

We are currently rating this pledge as “in progress”.

Since the election, the government has repeated its intent to ban trail hunting, including in December 2024 and April 2025, but legislation to this effect has not yet been introduced to Parliament.

Speaking during an adjournment debate in Parliament on 1 April 2025, Defra minister Daniel Zeichner said he was unable to give a timeframe for legislation to be introduced, but that ministers were continuing to work on a ban.

He added that a “thorough” consultation would be launched later in 2025 to ensure any legislation is “effective in practice”.

When we asked Defra if there is a timeframe for legislation to be introduced it told us it remained “committed” to a ban, and that it will set out next steps “in due course”.