A SENIOR Tory MSP has been criticised after the hotel she owns with her husband hosted a workshop to help supporters of fox hunting lobby Holyrood.
Rachael Hamilton has links with the controversial Duke of Buccleuch and Lauderdale hunts.
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She has now been accused of “hosting sessions to show fellow hunting enthusiasts how best to lobby MSPs” as Holyrood prepares to tighten laws.
Hunt supporters met in the Buccleuch Arms hotel in St Boswells – which is owned by Ms Hamilton and her husband Billy – for a “letter writing workshop” in April.
A Facebook page for the event said it was hosted by the Buccleuch Hunt.
It read: “Volunteers will be on hand to assist with letter writing to MSPs. We will help you draft and print a letter. If you have a laptop, please bring it. All welcome – free tea and coffee.”
Letters have since been sent to MSPs in the south of Scotland, arguing using dogs to flush out foxes is necessary and humane pest control.
A photo on Facebook of the workshop in “full flow” features Ms Hamilton’s husband, but there is no suggestion she attended.
It comes as the Scottish Government prepares to bring forward legislation aimed at closing “potential loopholes” in the law protecting foxes.
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An SNP spokesman said: “This is a bit off. Rachael Hamilton is well known for her close ties to some of the most notorious fox hunts in the country. Now she’s hosting sessions to show fellow hunting enthusiasts how best to lobby MSPs, just as Holyrood prepares to close the loopholes in existing legislation to protect foxes.
“Self-interested Tories like Rachael Hamilton need to realise they’re elected to parliament to serve all of their constituents – not just blood sports devotees.”
Last year, two members of the Buccleuch Hunt were cleared after being accused of illegal fox-hunting.
Ms Hamilton, the Scottish Tory’s shadow culture secretary, has ridden with the Lauderdale and Buccleuch hunts, while her husband Billy says he manages the Lauderdale group on his Facebook page.
A Scottish Tory spokeswoman said: “This is really weak. Is the SNP suggesting that there is something wrong with writing letters to politicians? Rachael Hamilton represents a rural constituency with a diverse rural economy.
“It’s utterly pathetic that the governing party of Scotland is spending its time on tribal attacks like these.”
Jamie Stewart, director of the Scottish Countryside Alliance, said he organised the letter campaign, and that the meeting room was paid for.
He said: “Rather than a co-conspirator, Rachel Hamilton was one of of the 16...MSPs who were recipients of our activities.”
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