Why are foxhunters still allowed to blatantly flout the law in a way that simply wouldn’t be countenanced if someone dressed up in another kind of costume (Batman? The clown from It?) to, say, rob an off-licence?

Labour has pledged to close loopholes in the 2004 Hunting Act that allow blood sports to masquerade as “trail hunting”. While illegal hunting (of foxes and hares) is reputed to be as widespread as ever, convictions have fallen to a record low. Government cuts undermine the efforts of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, while cases have been dropped by the police and Crown Prosecution Service, with vital evidence said to be “misunderstood or ignored”.

There are reports of hunters celebrating as foxes and hares are ripped apart, interference with badger setts (to stop foxes escaping underground) and disingenuous guff about trail hunts, said to require significant amounts of fox urine, or artificial liquids, that hunts never seem to invite outsiders to see being prepared.

Oddly, despite claims of being “hounded” themselves, hunters also never seem interested in doing the one thing that would instantly stop all the accusations and conjecture: invite volunteer riders from, for instance, animal welfare groups to join the rides/trail hunts/whatever. If nothing illegal is going on, and it’s just a smashing day out, you’d have thought that hunts would be desperate to have witnesses along to confirm it.

It’s almost odd that foxhunting continues to involve such a plethora of divisive issues, extending beyond class

Who thinks foxhunting should be illegal anyway? Well, you do. At least according to poll after poll showing people are robustly committed to the ban (85% in one poll commissioned from Ipsos Mori by the League Against Cruel Sports). Theresa May found this out when she pledged to give MPs a free vote on bringing back foxhunting, a plan she later hastily dropped, admitting there was a “clear message” against it from the public.

Indeed, for such an archaic niche pursuit in our predominantly urbanised nation, it’s almost odd that foxhunting continues to involve such a plethora of divisive issues, extending beyond class: you know, town versus country, modernity versus tradition, normal versus pathetic. There’s also the fact that, hey, it takes all sorts and if some people enjoy dressing up in a snazzy scarlet jacket and breeches to resemble a sex dream that the late Dame Barbara Cartland might have had, the rest of us should try our hardest not to be mean and judgmental about it.

However, the most salient point of all is simply that foxhunting is illegal. Even people who aren’t strongly against hunting would doubtless balk at hunters arrogantly flouting laws that everyone else has to live by. Posturing about “tradition” is an irrelevance.

If the law is the law when someone breaks into a car, or holds a knife to a throat, it remains the law when people illegally hunt. The legal system should not be a rural pick and mix.

If this House of Cards does collapse, it won’t be Robin Wright’s fault

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Robin Wright in House of Cards: ‘Claire is at least as compelling as Frank.’ Photograph: David Giesbrecht/AP

Is it always an automatic disaster for a television show when a male lead leaves? The sixth and final series of Netflix’s House of Cards is under way without the Frank Underwood character, played by Kevin Spacey (let go from the show after accusations of sexual misconduct) and it is already being rather briskly written off in some quarters. Really? Is it just too Frank-free to bear?

I’ll be watching House of Cards, but if it’s disappointing I won’t be blaming it on Spacey’s absence, or on the female lead, Robin Wright, as Claire Underwood. Even with Spacey involved, the last few series were decidedly lacklustre, which just seems to happen with many long-running dramas.

If it’s an issue of characterisation, Claire is at least as compelling as Frank. If it’s about splitting a great on-screen partnership (the only valid gripe), then that goes both ways – as much as Claire needed Frank, Frank needed Claire.

If the last series of House of Cards does flop, let’s remember that it was already doing so even with Spacey on board. In the meantime, people really don’t have to hit their inner cultural panic button just because the male lead has disappeared.

• Barbara Ellen is an Observer journalist