Evening Boys and Girls,
This will no doubt reignite a lot of old arguments. We probably all know who is pro or anti the ATr by now, and unless you want to break the law you have to buy a licence, it is a compulsory tax, a legal requirement to pay if you want to fish. So, although this will probably be spitting in the wind, we don't need to rake over the old coals, ’the ATr are this or that’, ‘the web site doesn't mention me etc.’. ‘The EA have done, haven't done, won't do this or that’. They are what we’ve got.
We need Govt. influence and we need a pressure group to represent us, put our case to them and make them take us seriously. Otherwise, we simply do not exist, we will be ignored.
Jeff has put the two organisations into perspective, so how do we want Angling Politics to be run? You have a Govt dept on one side, a Govt who don't want to and won't deal seriously with loads of little groups, they demand one point of contact. No one point of contact = no high level discussion = no influence!
What do you want on the other side and how are you going to achieve it? Most of us won't pay a pound a week, if that continues the Govt will quite rightly conclude that they can happily cr*p all over us. (as they have literally done on the tidal Thames over the weekend!)
My current view is that after a very shaky start the ATr are beginning to make a difference. However, with the current pathetic levels of backing they are severely limited and that will limit the weight that they (we!!!) can add to the argument.
Any positive views on how to get some unity into angling? There are enough of us to be feared in the corridors of power, but little men on their own will be and are ignored.
I am not holding my breath but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised!
Stu