Supporters of hunting have put 54 MPs on their “most wanted” list in a deck of playing cards.
The Countryside Alliance has produced the pack, featuring anti-hunting MPs, as part of a campaign to prevent legislation banning the sport.
Ann Widdecombe, Conservative MP for the Kent constituency of Maidstone and the Weald, is pictured in the so-called Pack of Prejudice as the Queen of Clubs.
The list – a parody of the cards issued to troops by the US government in Iraq – also includes Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy as the Jack of Hearts.
Minister of State for Rural Affairs Alun Michael has a Joker card, while Labour backbencher and former actress Glenda Jackson is the Queen of Hearts.
Miss Widdecombe, who has often voiced her opposition to hunting, said she was “relaxed” about being included in the £5 deck.
She said: “I think the concept is very amusing. I hope they will be sporting enough to send me a pack for Christmas.
“I haven’t seen the cards in question, but unless it’s in very, very bad taste, I’m totally relaxed; as far as I’m concerned, it’s an occupational hazard of public life.
“Good luck to them and I hope they have a merry Christmas and hunting is banned in the New Year.”
Miss Widdecombe said she would continue to vote for a ban when legislation next came to the House of Commons.
A Countryside Alliance spokesman said the idea was to show MPs how “angry and frustrated” people felt about any ban on fox hunting.
He said the cards had been selling well as stocking fillers in the run-up to Christmas.
The group claims 59% of people oppose a ban on hunting and that the public does not think hunting legislation should be a priority.
Source: BBC News
