In recent months, British trophy hunters have jetted off to South Africa to shoot lions and monkeys. They’ve gone to Zimbabwe to hunt elephants and giraffes, to Tanzania to shoot hippos and leopards, and to Namibia to kill zebras.

They’ve even travelled to Canada and Russia to shoot bears and wolves.

Then they've brought their ‘trophies’ home – the feet and tusks of elephants, the bones of giraffes, the bodies of baboons, hippo skulls, bear skins – just to decorate their living rooms and brag to their pals.

Like most ordinary Brits, I cannot understand why anyone would kill an animal for ‘sport’ and a souvenir. It’s disgusting – and madness at a time when so much wildlife is at risk of extinction.

That’s why on November 25 I’m introducing a bill in Parliament which would stop British hunters bringing home their gruesome keepsakes.

Thanks to the Daily Mirror’s campaign, a ban is backed by the government, the Labour Party, the Lib Dem leader and by MPs of every party in Parliament.

But the hunting lobby won’t go down without a fight.

That is why I’m today calling on every Mirror reader to get in touch with their MP. Nine out of 10 voters say they want a ban – so now it’s time for MPs to hear directly from the people who elected them.

The Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting has created a link which makes it easy to contact your MP directly. Just go to www.BanTrophyHunting.org/ACTION, enter your postcode - and have your say.

Sir David Attenborough once told the Mirror trophy hunting was “incomprehensible”.

He’s right. Trophy hunting needs to be abolished. A British ban on trophies is a big step in the right direction.

Henry Smith MP