In a bold move, some would suspect only to protect rural seats, Tony Blair and his government are proposing to encourage minorities to start their own hunts. Government "seed" money will be used to encourage such moves. (Hat tip to Rob for finding the story.) As you can imagine, as the goverment is handing out money, several groupings have already jumped at the chance to go hunting.

The easiest to introduce is the Queer Hunt, where Soho's finest chase the fox. Some in the hunting community are quite keen on these, as there is a hope that a bit more style will be introduced to the traditional hunting garb. There are some suggestions that the hounds might be replaced by Chihuahua & Pekingese. This will be especially the case in the Dame Barbara Cartland hunt...whose livery will be slightly brighter pink than normal.

Jewish Britons have been keen to take up the government's offer as well. First off the mark is the Beth Shalom Hunt with their plans. As with the Queer Hunt, several of their members already participate in hunts, so they have been quick in jumping at the chance. There are a few changes to the normal hunt, however, including kosher advisors, and the most radical change...instead of the dogs killing the Fox, older Jewish ladies will nag it to death.

There is still some discussion about whether or not Muslims will take up the offer of help to set up a hunt. There is a great deal of disagreement on whether or not the Koran allows such an activity. There are some problems, of course, as Muslims are not to keen on dogs. It was suggested that young men would be used instead as a way to "train them", for some unknown reason. This hunt has been asked not to light any hedgerows on fire while trailing the fox. There is also a wonder whether the hunters will be allowed to use AKs to put the Fox out of its mysery. Several leading Saudi horse owners have offered to donate horses to the cause, in an effort to encourage fellow Muslims to engage their local communities. It will probably be called the Al Alqsa Hunt Brigade.