Who Else?
Who funds the Countryside Alliance?
A document leaked to The Observer revealed a number of donors to the Alliance. They include:
- Prince Charles, who lent his house for a cocktail party
- Sir Hardy Amies, the Queen's dressmaker
- Lord Vestey, the meat tycoon and polo playing chum of Charles who is page of honour to the Queen.
- Marquess of Hartington, chairman of the British Horseracing Board and the Queen's representative of Ascot.
- Sir Christopher Bland, Chair of the BBC
- Duke of Northumberland[39]-Britain’s 87th richest man with £250million, who caused controversy by riding roughshod over local opinion by planning to build executive homes in Chatton on his estate[40].
- The Duke Of Westminster– Britain’s richest man, with an estimated fortune of £4 Billion, gets £300 000 in farm subsidies per year for his farm near Chester[41], is a member of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA, formerly the Country Landowners’ Association), was one of the original board members of the Countryside Movement[42] and has been the President of the Game Conservancy Trust and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation. He is reported to have helped out the Countryside Movement with a £ 1 million pound ‘loan’.[43] He was also on the Countryside Alliance’s board until a 1998 re-shuffle in order to make themselves look less like the voice of the landed gentry[44], and is one of the Countryside Alliance’s main funders, though rumours that he is the ‘anonymous benefactor’ who provided its offices are apparently unfounded, having been denied by a source within the Alliance who states that the office was given by someone who lives in Switzerland[45].
- Sir Robert McAlpine, construction company
- Sunley Holdings, construction company
- Persimmon Homes[46] home-building company. In a stunning piece of hypocrisy, the Countryside Alliance on one hand expresses concern about the destruction of greenfield land and recognises that disappearance of greenfield and green belt land are major problems[47], yet on the other hand are funded by those who are responsible for this destruction.
[39] "Prince Named As Secret Backer Of Hunt Lobby", The Observer, 26th September 1999
[40] "Tenants Revolt Over Duke’s Homes Plan", Daily Express, 10th February 2000.
[41] "Revealed: How Britain’s Richest Man Takes A £3m Tax Hand-Out, The Observer, 20th May 2001
[42] "Rural Lobby Takes Aim At Theme Park Britain", The Times, 17th Novemember 1995
[43] "Back In The Hunt", The Guardian, 4th October 2000.
[44] "Country Alliance Seeks New Image", The Times, 4th April 1998
[45] Anonymous source, June 2001
[46] Stewart, Ben, (Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals), The Countryside Alliance – a Briefing, unpublished.
[47] CA Press Release, 13th July 2000, 'Rural Issues Ignored In Government's Annual Report' www.countryside-alliance.org/news/latest00/000713rural.htm
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