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Kavanagh et al: British Politics 5e

Chapter 21

Pressure groups and policy networks

The Countryside Alliance
www.countryside-alliance.org/
The Countryside Alliance was established in 1998 to influence policy on a range of rural affairs issues. However, the main focus of its activities has been the Labour government's attempts to ban hunting with hounds. On its well designed and presented website you can find details of past and current campaigning activities.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association
www.huntsabs.org.uk/
Prior to the ban on hunting with hounds, the Hunt Saboteurs Association organised to undertake direct action to disrupt and halt hunts. Their site is a good illustration of how the tactics of a pressure group change in response to legislation. You can review saboteurs methods for disrupting hunts in the past in the 'Tactics' section of the website and also assess the impact of legislation such as the Criminal Justice Act of 1994 in the 'Legal' section of the site. The news section however illustrates the revised tactics of the saboteurs, focusing on monitoring hunts and calling upon the police to fully implement the law.

BBC News – In Depth: The Miners Strike
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2004/miners_strike/default.stm
A section of the BBC's website established at the time of the 20th anniversary of the 1984 Miners Strike. Here you will find reports on the genesis, conduct and conclusion of the strike and assessments of its significance from those involved on both sides of the dispute. Overall, the site provides a good reminder of the techniques of pressure used by unions and government in the 1970s and 1980s.

Live 8
www.live8live.com/
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1985 Live Aid Concert, a series of benefit concerts took place around the world. Partly organised with the Make Poverty history campaign these concerts had the objective of pressuring G8 leaders to increase aid and implement fairer trade for African nations. Live 8 has garnered much comment, not least because the G8 agreed to double aid payments to Africa by 2010 shortly after. The Live 8 website allows you to review the events of 2005 and to monitor the continuing progress of this unusual form of pressure group activity.

Greenpeace UK
www.greenpeace.org.uk/
Just as Live 8 demonstrated the international dimension to many pressure group campaigns within the UK, so too does Greenpeace's site. Clicking on campaigns will get you details of Greenpeace activities past and present, many of which have involved direct action. A good example is the campaign against Genetically Modified Organisms which has included the destruction of GM crops.