Dancing to their tune

Robin Scott says the shooting organisations do not have licence to tell people what to do on their own land

- Robin Scott

I am not yet skint but semi-retirement’s prompted me to look a little closer at my outgoings on the ‘must have’ stuff I once thought important.

For a start, do I need a non-essential TV licence or daily newspaper for entertainment and information today, when there’s Netflix and a radio to turn to? Just think, flicking two fingers at the BBC will save £157.50 and interminable repeats in an instant. Goodbye Bake Off, Gary Lineker, Chris Packham and Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly? In the good old days this unpretentious, gently paced piece of viewing featured lady competitors who made their own sequined dresses. It was simply called Come Dancing — prompting one comedian to quip: “You know what, some people can actually do that.”

Moving quickly on… From a rough shooter’s point of view the money spent on a TV licence can buy enough cartridges to keep us firing on all cylinders for a year. Or perhaps even pay our subs to a couple or three favourite shooting organisations. Which leads me to ask: do I have to be a member of both BASC and the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association in order to wave the flag for our sport?

Due to family reasons I’ve not been able to shoot registered targets for some time but I still stump up the fee because I like to believe, in a small way, the money helps support a sport that’s awash with so much brilliant young talent. Clay shooting has brought me immense pleasure over the years. And it will hopefully do so again in the not too distant future.