David Cameron has insisted he has never illegally fox hunted, after members of his local hunt were convicted of hunting a wild fox with hounds.
On Monday the RSCPA succeeded in prosecuting two members of the Heythrop Hunt in the prime minister’s Oxfordshire constituency.
The PM has insisted he has not broken the fox hunting law
Richard Sumner, 68, and Julian Barnfield, 49, were fined £1,800 and £1,000 respectively and the hunt fined £4,000.
It is understood that Cameron rode in the hunt six times before Labour introduced the ban in 2004.
Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop in the Commons mischievously pressed the prime minister on the matter on Wednesday.
“How many times has he ridden with the hunt? Whether he used his own horse? Or whether he borrowed a horse from a friend?” he asked.
The Heythrop Hunt takes place around Chipping Norton, the Oxfordshire home of many of Britain’s political and media elite – including former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie Brooks.
Cameron was embarrassed during the course of the Leveson inquiry when he was forced to admit he had ridden a horse lent to Brooks by the Metropolitan Police.
On Wednesday The Guardian reported that Cameron held an “intense” discussion with Brooks when the two met at a party on Saturday in Chipping Norton.
Responding to Blenkinsop, Cameron said: “I can happily put on record I have never broken the law in this regard.”
Asked by journalists after PMQs in what regards the prime minister had broken the law if not over fox hunting, his spokesperson said: “none, to my knowledge”.