Another Anti-hunt MP Accused of Paedophilia
- dereckhoward99
- Aug 21
- 2 min read
Scottish Labour MSP Colin Smyth has become the latest anti-hunt lawmaker to be accused of sex crimes against minors. The 52-year-old, who has represented South Scotland since 2016, has been arrested and charged over possession of indecent images of children. He was picked up earlier this month and quickly suspended by Scottish Labour. A date for his appearance at Dumfries Sheriff Court is yet to be confirmed.
Back in December 2022, Smyth was busy slamming against foxhunting legislation, eager to show off his hardline stance on the sport. He branded the SNP’s decision to vote down tougher restrictions on hunt licences a “betrayal” and sneered at the Greens as “toothless” in government.
“The SNP’s decision to team up with the Tories to water down the new ban on fox hunting is a complete betrayal… Labour are clear that you cannot license cruelty, and we will keep fighting to make sure this law is truly fit for purpose,”he jibed.
BTM would argue the real cruelty is whatever is allegedly on Mr Smyth’s phone.
Appallingly, Smyth isn’t the only Labour MP who has taken a firm stance on hunting but a more casual approach to the age of consent.
Dan Norris, former Labour MP for Northeast Somerset and Hanham and former chair of anti-hunting charity the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), was arrested in April on suspicion of rape, child sex offences, child abduction and misconduct in public office.
Then there’s ex-veterans minister Ivor Caplin, arrested in January after allegedly attempting to meet a 15-year-old boy he’d been grooming online. Caplin, who once sponsored the 2004 Hunting Act and was even awarded lifetime membership of LACS, was intercepted at Brighton station by the vigilante group Stop Stings. Their leader, Dean Rowland, said:
“We had done a lot of research before this meeting took place. We have been speaking to the individual for months over WhatsApp. All of the evidence has been handed over to the police now and we hope that justice will be done.”
“There are also images that have been sent by him [Caplin] that have been handed over and can be used as evidence,” Rowland added.
This string of arrests paints a grim picture. Time and again, Labour’s anti-hunting champions, so quick to claim the moral high ground, end up in filth. When skeletons start tumbling out of their own closets, it’s hard for anyone to agree with their anti-hunting preaching.
