Manifestos are launched, key points are highlighted – and the media caravan moves on. This series turns a spotlight on the Conservative Manifesto and returns to policy announcements that some will have missed.
Last time round, Theresa May promised a free vote on foxhunting, as David Cameron did in 2015. She herself said during the campaign that she had “always supported” it.
This time, the manifesto baldly declares: “We will make no changes to the Hunting Act”.
This form of wording does not actually rule out providing a free vote, or the Government giving time to a Private Members’ Bill on the matter, but to do either would surely be a breach of the spirit, though not the letter, of this pledge.
It is the latest step in a Tory journey away from providing support for foxhunting by one means or another.
May herself dropped her promise after her view landed badly (though some disputed that claim). Boris Johnson is clearly at pains to close down a potential attack line on him.