Some of us joined up with Mendip Hunt Sabs and Somerset Sabs on Saturday to sab a Mendip Farmers Hunt meet hosted by Jacob Rees-Mogg MP at his private mansion, Gournay Court at West Harptree.

One of Rees-Mogg’s sprogs was riding with the hunt and would have witnessed all the criminality that took place throughout the day. For a serving MP to host a hunt whose members are convicted violent criminals and whose Master George Pullen was filmed just last week viciously beating a hound (now the subject of an RSPCA investigation) is quite something. Add to that the fact that this hunt are now joined by ex-Avon Vale Hunt riders and terriermen. In a nutshell, that tells you everything you need to know about why foxhunting carries on.

The hunt set off from the meet to draw the reed beds at the Herriott’s Mill Pool nature reserve, where they have no permission to hunt. A fox was flushed from here and went to ground at a badger sett which the Mendip sabs were aware of from previous occasions. This sett and others in the area had many holes that had been freshly blocked. The hunt moved on from the sett but within an hour hounds had returned after hunting a fox from White Hill and marked the same sett again. Some sabs watched over the sett for the rest of the day to prevent a digout.